The Eighth Fantasy: a FFVIII Written Adaptation
by Nique - Lina
Summary: A Final Fantasy VIII adaptation, started by Nique, now being updated and continued by Lina. Currently at the beginning of disc 3.
1. The Fight

**__**

"I'll be here..."

**__**

"...Why?"

**__**

"I'll be 'waiting'...here."

**__**

"For what?"

**__**

"I'll be waiting for you... so... if you come here, you'll find me..."

**__**

"I promise."

Sparks flew as the two swords met, their blades scraping each other harshly. They parted. One weapon flew upward at its opponent, only to be blocked again by the blade of the other. They pushed away, with more white-hot sparks, as the blades sharpened after each blow.

The two fighters were battling early in the morning, on harsh, rocky terrain. The sky was still dark, except for brief flashes of lighting, off in the distance. But the opponents ignored their surroundings. They were only focused on one thing - each other.

The two young men stepped back, their eyes meeting for the first time since the duel began. Squall Leonhart and Seifer Almasy. Rivals to the end.

Seifer was eighteen years old. Standing at six feet and two inches tall, he was an intimidating opponent. He wore a long grey trench coat, and leather gloves, and he never let his short, bleached blonde hair grow out. He wanted it short, so it was easy for him to focus his blue eyes right on his opponent, watching their every move.

At seventeen, Squall was a year younger, and stood at a slightly shorter five feet and eight inches. His ability in battle matched Seifer's easily, no-one could deny that, though they differed greatly in many other ways. While Squall was constantly calm and collected, always lost in his own thoughts, Seifer was brash, misbehaving and had a short temper.

Squall focused his steel-blue eyes on Seifer's cold, knowing stare.

"Had enough?" Seifer's mocking voice broke the silence. While he was a gifted fighter, his abilities made him too sure of himself at times.

Squall was tired, but he was by no means going to let Seifer overpower him. He tugged on his fur-collared leather jacket, and brushed his dark brown hair away from his eyes.

"Let's just finish this. Now." Squall's voice came out, cold and impatient.

Seifer sighed, the kind of sigh as if dealing with a child. He cocked his head and dragged a gloved hand through his short, blond hair.

"Give it up, Squall," he sneered. "You're just too-"

His comment was cut short by Squall lunging towards him. The unusual weapon he possessed was gripped firmly in his leather glove. Squall raised the gun-handled sword quickly, ready to attack. Seifer responded immediately with a swift blow from his own gunblade, sending Squall's weapon hurdling into the air.

They both watched as Squall's sword flew higher, and higher. It went buzzing threw the air, spinning continuously, until they lost sight of it as it entered the clouds. Seifer then lowered his head, laughing.

"I'll let you have that one," he said cockily to Squall, as he rested his weight on the hilt of the sword.

Squall's eyes squinted, and his nostrils flared. Seifer knew that "letting him have that one", would infuriate Squall. To make matters worse, the dark rainclouds in the distance had relocated, right above them. If Seifer, stubbornly determined as he was, insisted on continuing the battle, it would be in the middle of a storm.

Squall squinted up into the dark sky, raindrops falling onto his fiery eyes. As much as he didn't want to lose to Seifer, he was without a weapon. In a real battle situation, that would have meant death. It all seemed hopeless.

But here was Seifer, allowing Squall to continue fighting. _Allowing_. Squall hated that. Seifer was now in control of the battle. He could finish him off right here. But Seifer was so sure of himself, so utterly confident, that he decided to let Squall keep fighting.

"_I'll teach him a lesson..." _Seifer thought, smirking to himself.

A small white feather floated down, brushing the center of Squall's face. He wrinkled his nose and blew it off, waiting for his sword to return to him. A split second later, his gunblade came flying down from the heavens, slicing through the air. It pierced the rock-hard ground effortlessly with a great 'thunk' and Squall immediately wrenched it out. He then proceeded to lunge at Seifer with full force.

And Seifer just stood there, pointing his sword at Squall, taunting him. He then brought it up and around, just in time to block Squall's advances. Seifer came forward, swinging wide. Fortunately, Squall was able to avoid being hit. But Seifer was taking a lot of 'cheap shots', and it took all of Squall's attention just to avoid getting hit as Seifer came at him again and again.

Their weapons met with equal force, and they pushed, sending each other flying in the opposite direction. Seifer gathered himself quickly. He rested his gunblade on his shoulder, and signaled for Squall to come at him. He was taunting him yet again, Squall knew. But in it, he saw an opportunity.

He swung his sword around, coming at Seifer fast. The clashing of metal rang throughout the battlefield. He struck again, and again, each time with more force. Seifer frowned with annoyance and slight surprise at Squall's sudden comeback.

Eventually, Seifer was able to attack back, almost knocking the gunblade from Squall's hand again with a powerful swing. But Squall was on a roll; he was hitting every move perfectly, and dodging Seifer's assaults. He raised up and began to attack ferociously.

But Seifer had other plans.

As Squall ran towards him, Seifer stretched out his arm, and a swirling glow of hot, orange energy emitted from his hand, directed right at Squall.

The fire magic struck Squall and hurled him to the ground. Squall knew immediately that he was temporarily blinded by Seifer's attack. His vision was fuzzy, he was disoriented, and he could hear the sleeves of his jacket hissing and crackling from the fire energy.

Squall fought to get his bearings before Seifer could win, but it was too late. His eyes suddenly widened in fear as he saw, and felt, the ice-cold blade of Seifer's weapon strike him across the forehead.

It cut deep, very deep, and red blood ran down Squall's nose, dripping onto the ground. He yelled, half with fury and half with pain, as he raised his gunblade, cutting the air fast towards Seifer. Squall sliced from the lower left side of Seifer's nose up to the upper right, leaving a deep cut, in the same place as Squall's, like a mirror image.

Seifer winced and dropped his gunblade with surprise. Blood trickled down his face, though the injury was just a scratch compared to what the trench-coated fighter had done to his opponent.

Squall slumped onto the hard surface, his eyes rolling into the back of his head. He dropped his weapon, blood still gushing from his brow. A small white feather floated down and landed on his cold cheek as he took in a last breath, then fell unconscious.


	2. Balamb Garden

Squall woke up to the smell of harsh chemicals and the feeling that he was lying on a bed of bricks. There was an extremely bright light shining down onto his face, which made his eyes sting. He uttered a groan and blinked furiously before covering his eyes with a hand.

"Ah, you're awake," a woman's voice said, and with a squeak, the bright dentist-style lamp was removed from above his head and back onto the wall.

Squall blinked again for a few moments, and after his eyes had adjusted to the natural light, he looked around. He recognised the room it as the Infirmary, then was suddenly aware of an intense throbbing pain at the front of his head. Reaching up, he poked around cautiously and felt a thick, blood-stained bandage. In a rush of memories, he suddenly remembered it all. The fight, the heavy rain, Seifer gloating…

"How do you feel?" Dr. Kadowaki asked, waddling her plump figure over towards the side of the white medical bed.

"_My forehead hurts_," was Squall's original thought, but instead he simply replied: "…I'm okay."

"Mmm-hmm," Dr. Kadowaki hummed, eyeing him sceptically. He didn't meet her gaze.

Without saying anything, she took a small medical torch from one pocket and began shining closely it in Squall's eyes.

"Well, looks like your eyes are focusing," she mumbled, then switched off the torch and returned to her upright position. "You'll be fine. Can you say your name for me?"

"Squall," he said, and his voice echoed in his skull, which made his head hurt even more.

"Why don't you take it easy in training?" Dr. Kadowaki suggested. "Next time you might not be so lucky."

"Tell that to Seifer," Squall muttered, putting a hand to his aching head in an attempt to ease the pain.

Dr. Kadowaki clicked her tongue against her teeth in a loud 'tut' and rolled her eyes.

"That Seifer," she spat with distaste, "Won't listen to anyone. Why don't you just ignore him?"

"I can just run away," Squall spoke out defensively, glaring at her slightly.

"You wanna be cool, huh?" Dr. Kadowaki chucked heartily at Squall's typical attitude. "Well, don't get hurt in the process."

__

"Whatever," Squall thought, choosing not to take this advice.

"Let's see, your instructor is..." Dr. Kadowakipaused for a moment. "Quistis! I'll call her now. Just wait here a minute."

Squall slumped back down on the hard mattress, his hand placed firmly on his freshly scared forehead. He thought about the fight, and it dawned on him that soon every student in the academy would know everything about it. That was how things were here at Garden – nobody had any secrets.

A cool breeze blew in gently through the open window, and the light yellow curtains fluttered about. Squall closed his eyes and relaxed; the wind felt good on his face, easing his thumping headache.

"Quistis?" Dr. Kadowaki said on the phone, from the other side of the Infirmary. "Come get your student. Yes, yes, his injury's not serious. It'll probably leave a scar. …Right. Now please come by."

__

"Great," Squall thought bitterly, opening his eyes again. _"A scar. As if the fact that I ended up passed out in the Infirmary wasn't enough humiliation."_

Only then did Squall notice that for the past few moments, someone had been watching him through a large glass pane that separated the Infirmary from a quiet corridor.

It was a young girl with cropped brown hair, in white, blue and green clothes. She seemed so breezy, so light, that Squall could have sworn she had just drifted in, unnoticed, through the open window, like an angel.

"Squall," she said softly, her voice vibrating slightly and sounding muffled through the glass. "So we meet again."

Squall blinked, trying to get his eyes to focus so he could look through the glass more clearly, but the young woman disappeared as quickly as a passing summer breeze.

Squall decided not to think much of it, and turned his head as he heard the Infirmary's automatic doors slide open with a loud 'swoosh'. Gentle footsteps echoed about the small room as Squall's Instructor, Quistis Trepe, came in.

Quistis had blonde hair that she always wore in a tight bun, with some longer strands of hair escaping at the front and framing the sides of her young face. She had a lovely peaches-and-cream complexion, and was dressed in smart glasses and the female Garden uniform – long sleeved blouse with a sailor-style collar and bow, knee-length skirt and smart black heeled boots.

Quistis looked around for her student, and caught sight at Squall lying, quite pathetically, on the medical bed. She let out an impatient sigh, then a wry smile.

"I knew it'd be either you or Seifer!" she snapped impatiently, but in an understanding tone. Pausing, she breathed in through the nose and sighed again. "Come on, let's go. Today's the field exam."

Turning to leave, then peering over her shoulder to make sure Squall could walk on his own, she lead Squall out into the open-air corridor and quietly headed back to the classroom.

At eighteen years old, Quistis was the youngest Instructor in Balamb Garden. Her abilities put her in the ranks of SeeD, the mercenary force of Garden, at a very young age, and there was constantly a lot of pressure on her. Because of this she found it difficult to cope with frustration, and could become depressed over trivial matters, contrary to her cool exterior.

"Squall," Quistis began, slowing her pace as he walked ahead of her, "Is there something on your mind?"

"Not really," they said in unison, and Squall glared at Quistis over his shoulder. She was laughing quietly behind a hand, covering her mouth.

"What's so funny?" he demanded, visibly annoyed.

"Funny?" Quistis repeated with widened eyes and a big, innocent smile. "No, no, it's not that! I'm just happy. I feel like I'm beginning to understand my student a little. That's all."

Squall halted his steps and turned to face her, with a hand resting on his hip.

"I'm more complex than you think," was his comeback. She leant forwards towards him, gesturing with her hands.

"Then tell me," she said eagerly. "Tell me more about yourself."

Squall was beginning to feel uncomfortable. He turned his head so she wouldn't look at him.

"It's none of your –"

"Business!" Quistis finished for him, and laughed again, more openly this time.

Squall chose not to reply and the two continued to walk through the open-air corridor, taking in the sights and sounds of Garden, the military academy so named because it was the home of SeeD – an elite mercenary team that operated in small groups all over the world.

Balamb Garden was quite a campus; a large building decorated beautifully and built with exquisite architecture. The fountains and marble walkway surrounding the main circular foyer gave it such a peaceful air that it almost disguised the Garden's true nature. If it weren't for the countless students in uniform, nobody would ever realize that this was a technology-advanced military academy.

Balamb Garden was founded twelve years ago by it's current headmaster, Cid Kramer. It was followed, soon after, by the construction of two additional Gardens, one built in Trabia, the other in Galbadia. But Balamb Garden, being the original, was the largest and most well-known of the three, and many students already attended or transferred there.

Squall and Quistis made their way to Garden's second floor, and into Quistis' classroom. The room was full of an atmosphere common in any classroom at any school or academy – students chattering excitedly, some laughing loudly over a shared joke, turned around in their seats to talk to friends in the row behind. More studious pupils already had their books and tools out, ready for the lesson ahead and trying to get in some last minute reading. A paper plane flew over a few heads, one student hurriedly tried to finish his cafeteria hot dog before Instructor Trepe showed up, and one group of vain girls sat preening themselves; brushing each others hair and applying make-up before their first morning lesson as smitten male students watched.

Squall walked in and made his way through to the back row, where his seat was. This was typical of Squall – not wanting to be near anyone, and being alone every chance he got. As he walked through the rows of seats, he noticed more than one or two people staring at him, and he knew they would be staring at his scar. A few students nudged their friends and began whispering.

But as Quistis entered the room after Squall, the class became silence and the lively activity stopped.

"Good morning, class," she greeted them loudly, walking over to her large desk at the front of the room and sitting down. "Let's start with today's schedule."

Out of the corner of his eye, Squall could see Seifer, who sat in the opposite row, staring at him. Squall turned his head and Seifer grinned evilly back at him.

Squall was pleased to see a light but clearly visible scar running down the middle of Seifer's forehead, although Seifer himself didn't seemed to be bothered by the light scratch. He tauntingly ran his finger down the fresh scar, then pointed the same finger at Squall and mouthed the words: "Next time."

Any other person would have leapt right out of their seat and gone berserk at Seifer, but Squall was not a very aggressive person. He wasn't even passive-aggressive. He was just passive.

So Squall ignored Seifer, and turned his attention back to the front of the class, where Quistis was still speaking.

"There seem to have been some rumors flying around since yesterday," Quistis said, then paused and peered at the class over her glasses in a moment of suspense. "Yes, the field exam for SeeD candidates will begin later this afternoon."

Every student, with the exception of Seifer and Squall, gasped, and they all began to talk at once.

"Those _not_ participating," Quistis barked in a raised voice, and the room once again fell silent, "And those who failed last week's written test," she paused again to glare at a few of the less academic students, "Are to remain here in study hall."

There were a few groans and a number of students began to boot up the in-built computers on their desks. They wouldn't be going anywhere today.

"Field exam participants will have free time until the exam," Quistis continued in her usual manner. "Just be sure you're in top condition. Meet in the hall at 1600 hours. I'll announce the team assignments there. Any questions?"

It appeared there were none, everyone was either stunned from the news, or had already started panicking.

"Oh and Seifer!" Quistis remembered, and in true Garden fashion, every student craned their necks round to the back of the room to see what was going on. "Do NOT injure your partner while training. Be careful from now on."

Seifer frowned in anger, causing the scar on his forehead to wrinkle up slightly, then looked over at Squall, then back at Quistis, and slammed his fist firmly on the desk in defiance. He gave Squall an evil glare, then slouched back casually in his seat. He was mad, but he kept his usual, cocky attitude at the forefront.

"Field exam participants," Quistis said breezily, ignoring Seifer's little tantrum," I will see you all later. Good luck, everyone!"

The majority of the students, including Seifer, got up and left in a hurry, some heading for the library to cram in some last minute facts and figures, and some to the training center to get themselves psyched up for the battles they would be facing that afternoon.

"And Squall, I need to talk to you," Quistis added as an afterthought.

He stood up and made his way to Quistis' desk. By the side of it were three 'Trepies' – a group of obsessive followers of Instructor Trepe.

"Try to smile a little when you're talking to the Instructor," a female Trepie told him as the three moved away to let Squall speak to her.

__

"Whatever," Squall thought to himself as the Trepies left the classroom.

"You haven't been to the Fire Cavern yet, have you?" Quistis asked, looking up from some paperwork. "You won't be able to take part in today's SeeD exam if you haven't passed the prerequisite."

__

"I was gonna go this morning, but Seifer…" Squall thought as he crossed his arms across his chest.

"Well?" Quistis looked up at him with raised eyebrows after he didn't reply. "Do you have a good excuse?"

"_There's no reason to blame it on Seifer," _Squall thought. "_I did _agree_ to do the training."_

"...Not really." he said eventually, with a small shrug.

"Then let's get going," Quistis replied, standing up. "If you're not too confident yet, remember you can review your studies at the study panel on your desk. I'll be waiting at the front gate, so come down when you're ready."

Quistis collected her last few papers and walked out of the classroom.

Squall went over to his desk and turned on his personal computer, a little insulted that Quistis thought he needed to review his studies. Well ,she was probably just looking out for him. A blow to the head like the one he had received this morning could well have made him forget some important things.

Besides, he had to access the network on the computer so he could acquire his GFs.

According to the Balamb Garden Data Network (BGDN), a _GF_, or _Guardian Force_, was described as: _an independent energy force. By combining it with para-magic, it is possible to control tremendous energy. Memory loss is a possible side effect, but this has not been proven as of yet._

Squall's GF were Quezacotl, a lightning-powered bird, and Shiva, an ice maiden.

He acquired them from the system, then decided to take a little look at the Garden messages. Squall wasn't social, and didn't take part in any extra-curricular activities at the academy, but he did like to stay in the know about what was happening.

There was nothing important new today – only a few ridiculous messages about hot dogs, a list of new library books that had arrived, and some updates on the Garden Festival, which Squall was not interested in.

He logged off his computer and made he was out of the second floor classroom and into the corridor, only to hear a loud, high-pitched shriek that hurt his head so much he had to cover his ears.

"I'm late, I'm late, I'M LATE!"

A short girl with flicked-out glossy brown hair and a very petite figure came racing down the corridor and bumped right into Squall, sending herself tumbling backwards and landing in a tangled heap. Squall skidded slightly, but managed to maintain his balance.

"Are you okay?" he asked her, as she bounced to her feet in an odd little jump.

"There," she said quietly to herself, dusting off her skirt, then looked up at Squall with a beaming smile and giggled. "I'm fine! Sorry, I was kinda in a hurry."

She peered over his shoulder and pointed to the classroom door a little way behind him. Squall noticed her hyperactive green eyes were unusually bright, even under the dim, artificial lights above them, and she seemed to blink a lot, more than most people.

"Did you just come from that class?" she asked perkily.

Squall nodded.

"Is…" the girl bit her bottom lip and winced, "…registration over?"

Squall nodded again and the girl bent her knees and crouched towards the floor, almost as if strings that had been holding her up had been cut, and her body went limp.

"Woo … oh, nooo…" she breathed. "This place is _soooo_ much bigger than my last Garden!"

She returned to her upright position, and was suddenly very bouncy again.

"Hey, I just transferred here," she told him with a smile. "Do you think you could give me a quick tour of this Garden?"

Squall wasn't usually very friendly, but he wasn't heartless either, and he did have plenty of time to kill.

"...Sure." he said, a little reluctantly.

"Whoo-hoo!" the girl cheered, punching the air. "Alright, let's go!"

"We'll take the lift to the first floor lobby and I'll show you the directory," Squall explained while leading her down the next corridor. "It's this way."

The lift doors slid open automatically and they walked in. Squall pushed the button for the first floor, there was a gentle 'ding', the doors closed and the lift began to descend.

Squall took this opportunity to take a closer look at the bubbly transfer student. He couldn't believe how tiny she was, and how fragile she looked. She seemed very out of place in a military academy. And she never stood still - even now she was bouncing on the balls of her feet and quietly humming a tune to herself while staring into space with her wide open eyes.

"That's the directory," Squall pointed over to it as they reached the first floor and walked down a set of stairs. "Balamb Garden is pretty big. It's a good idea to check where you want to go on here first, before you start wandering around."

"Okie-dokie!" the girl said in a sing-song voice.

"You'll find the dormitory to the north," Squall began. "The majority of the students live in the dorms. There aren't that many students who commute."

"Yeah, I'm in the dorms, too!" the girl told him excitedly.

"You can rest and change in there," Squall continued. "West of the North Block is the cafeteria. There's always a big rush for the hot dogs. You better get used to waiting in line."

"Got it!" the girl nodded.

"East of the North Block is the Car Park. We usually take the Garden car when a mission comes up. The front gate is located to the south. Next, we have the quad, located in the West Block. There's an event being planned there-"

"I know! I know! It's the Garden Festival!" the girl interrupted. "It's going to be _great_! I'm planning to be on the committee! You wanna help out, too?"

"Uh … let's just continue. South of the West Block is the infirmary. This is where you get treated for your injuries, but a lot of students just come here for advice from Dr. Kadowaki. Now the East Block. This is the training center. It's the only facility open at night. It's used for training, and they have real monsters running loose here. If you don't take it seriously, you may end up dead. Just be careful."

"_Dead_?" the girl repeated, and gulped.

"South of the East Block is the library. There's a lot of material you can look up here, but the terminals in the classroom are a lot more efficient. And you already know about the classroom on the second floor, right?"

"Yep, I remember that one, it's Instructor Trepe's."

"By the way, the headmaster's office is located on the third floor. You need permission to get in. Just go to the reception or ask one of the Garden Faculty. Or even better, ask your Instructor, who will give you a key."

"Another question. What's the headmaster's name?"

"Headmaster Cid," Squall said, turning to face her. "And that's about it. Anything else?"

"Nope!" the girl beamed at him. "I get it now. Hey, um … are you taking today's SeeD exam?"

"Yeah," Squall nodded.

"Then maybe I'll see you again, later. I've already finished my training at my previous Garden. Good luck to both of us, huh? Thanks a lot!"

And before Squall could say goodbye, she had bounced off. Squall watched her go in bewilderment. He didn't think he'd ever met someone with such a huge amount of energy.

After the unexpected interlude, Squall was now free to make his way down to the main gate, the entrance of Balamb Garden. He walked through the turnstiles, then along a long, narrow walkway. It was beautifully built, and although twelve years old, it still looked brand new, like the rest of Garden. The walkway was lined with trees and small fountains, and looked particularly pretty in the summer. Squall took a moment to look up into the sky. There was not a cloud in sight, and the sun beat down heavily. He was surprised how quickly the storm from the earlier that morning had cleared up.

A tiny white feather fluttered along the breeze onto Squall's cheek, and he brushed it away.

Quistis came into view now, leaning her weight against a large statue of a lion, dressed in her casual clothes. On most regular days, Instructors and some older students were allowed to wear what they desired; clothes that they felt comfortable in. They were especially worn on small missions and exam preparation such as this, for freedom of movement.

Quistis' outfit of choice was a peach-colored two piece, consisting of a sleeveless zip-up top and knee-length skirt. These were teamed with knee-high brown boots and her weapon – a chain whip.

Upon seeing Squall arrive, Quistis stood up and stepped towards him.

"Ready?" she asked, and Squall nodded.

"Good," she smiled. "I assume you're familiar with your GFs by now?"

Squall nodded again, without saying anything.

"Great," Quistis turned to the large gold gate that was the main entrance and exit of Balamb Garden. "The cavern's east of here, so let's get going."


	3. The Fire Cavern

Squall and Quistis journeyed quickly and quietly. The way to the fire cavern was short, but there were a lot of monsters in the area, and there was no assigned road leading to the Cave.

After a mile or two of wading through lush, dense greenery, and a few encounters with some unfriendly Catcherpillars and Bite Bugs, monsters that were heavily populated in the area, Squall and Quistis found the Fire Cavern - a volcanic area concealed in an underground cave. Its insides bubbled with lava and only a comparatively small strip of rocky floor led the way to the center.

The caves volcanic activity was, however, limited. "Perfectly undisturbed, yet on the edge of chaos" was how one student put it. Its last eruption was so long ago, that it had gone unrecorded. Yet it always seemed ready to explode. The cave was also filled with vicious fire monsters. They enjoyed the intense conditions inside the cave. The dry, rocky field just outside the cave gave only a slight indication of the heat and danger just within the opening.

As Squall and Quistis approached the Fire cavern area, they saw the two Garden Faculty members in the distance, cloaked in red as usual, with yellow hats pulled over their eyes. They were guarding the entrance to the Fire Cavern, making sure no mischievous children or unskilled SeeD candidates wandered in and got themselves hurt.

Squall knew that, as dangerous as it was, his training through Garden had prepared him enough for this challenge. He was more concerned about the field exam this afternoon. If all went well this morning, he would soon be working with qualified SeeDs on a real mission.

As they got closer to the entrance, Quistis spoke up.

"Okay, Squall. Do you have some magic junctioned to your gunblade yet?" she queried. "If you have any ice magic, make sure to use it rather than anything else. And you know how to use your gunblade effectively, right? It's much more powerful if you pull the trigger when you-"

"I know that," Squall cut her off, coldly. "I _am_ a gunblade specialist."

"Well yes, I suppose," Quistis sighed, feeling embarrassed. "I was just concerned, that's all."

Really, she was really just trying to make conversation, but Quistis found it difficult, knowing what to say to her star pupil. She couldn't help sounding like she was lecturing or instructing him.

Quistis couldn't explain why, but she had always had a soft spot for Squall, even though he came across as aloof and rude.

She didn't have time to think about that now, anyway - she was going to assist Squall on a potentially dangerous test, and she needed to focus on helping him. That was what she was there to do.

The pair came up to the two Garden Faculty members at the entrance of the cave. Like a machine, the first staff member recited the instructions to Squall.

"Objective: to obtain a low-level GF. A SeeD member must support. Are you ready?" he asked, all the time his voice in the same drone.

Squall stood upright, giving a salute to the Garden staff.

"I'm ready," he said.

"I'm his support," Quistis chimed in. "Instructor No. 14. Quistis Trepe."

The Garden staff both nodded simultaneously.

"What is your selected time limit?" the one on the right asked. "Choose one suited to your abilities. Challenging, yet reasonable. Select from ten, twenty, thirty or forty minutes."

Squall thought a moment, realising that he would receive a better evaluation if he successfully completed the task in a short amount of time.

"Ten minutes," he replied, after deciding that ten minutes would be plenty of time. In, battle, get GF, out. Simple, really.

"Very well. Good luck," the Garden staff members both took a side step and Squall and Quistis entered the cave.

The hot air took a moment to get used to, but they could breathe easily after a while. The dark, burned cavern walls absorbed the light from outside quickly, but the rest of the cave was lit up with bubbling lava and flames.

Quistis, still trying to make conversation, spoke up over the sickly sound of a lava bubble popping.

"My job is to support you in battle," she said needlessly. "Everything else is up to you, Squall."

"Fine," Squall replied bluntly, wishing she would just be quiet.

Suddenly, he saw two swirling masses of flames come at him and Quistis from further down the cave. Squall drew his gunblade and Quistis pulled out her chain whip, ready for battle.

"Hmm. Bombs," Quistis said calmly, as the two chubby red spheres hovered in front of them. "These are fire monsters, so use your ice magic on them."

Squall cast two Blizzard spells, killing the huge fire beasts before they could attack.

"Very good," Quistis smiled, but Squall just carried on walking.

The temperature in the cavern got hotter and hotter as they trudged through. It was now getting difficult to breathe, and the pathway became narrower as they walked on. The heat was getting more intense with every step.

Quistis had noticed how tense the fire cave made people, even herself. So after a while, she spoke up again.

"You know, the boys often choke on this test when I come with them. I guess my charm makes them nervous," she joked with a grin.

"..._Whatever," _Squall thought, glaring at her.

"I'm just kidding!" Quistis explained. "Trying to keep you relaxed, that's all."

__

"Then just don't say anything," Squall said bitterly to himself in his mind.

Perhaps, Quistis realised, her feelings towards Squall had originated from when they had been students together. She had tried to be friends with him, with little luck. She even admitted, only to herself of course, that she had developed romantic feelings for Squall.

But now, as his instructor, the situation was very awkward. Quistis tried to earn his respect, but Squall still kept to himself, like he always had. He hated having others involved in his affairs, and he seemed just as content to stay out of everyone else's.

Quistis followed Squall carefully, keeping watch of how well he was doing. Though Quistis was slightly bothered by Squall's attitude, she kept her concentration on how well he conducted himself in battle. It was her job to evaluate him.

As they went deeper into the cave, another pair of Bombs attacked the two fighters.

Squall could feel the extreme heat emitting from the fire beasts, even from a distance. He quickly finished them off, however, with two more blizzard spells.

Squall was very focused on the assignment. Despite Quistis' attempts to 'relax' him, he remained on guard the entire time.

"I guess I was right," Quistis spoke up again. "You and Seifer are in a class of your own. You both have amazing strength and potential."

Though Seifer was definitely a gifted fighter, he lacked discipline and respect for _any_ authority. Squall, on the other hand, followed directions to the letter, even if he did it begrudgingly at times.

Squall remained silent. There were only about five minutes left, and they were just now getting to what he realised was the Guardian Forces' lair – a huge, rocky opening in the ground. Hot air puffed out of it, and he wiped the sweat from his brow.

"Okay, this is it," Quistis said, as the ground beneath them began to rumble. "Are you ready?"

Squall just shot his hand up, as if to quiet her, then drew out his gunblade.

"Well, you seem confident enough," Quistis concluded, looking at him through half-closed eyes.

Suddenly, out shot a huge beast from the ground. Flames spat out from the opening of the cave floor and with a large boom and violent shaking, he spoke.

"WHO DARES DISTURB ME?!" Ifrit, the fire GF, yelled angrily. He looked at the two small humans before him and chuckled. It echoed all around the cave, and Squall wouldn't have been surprised if the ceiling gave way and fell on him.

Ifrit howled in fury as Squall took a swipe at him with his gunblade.

"Impudent humans!" Ifrit roared, opening out his fists to reveal lethal, 8-inch long claws.

He attacked Squall and Quistis with fire spells immediately. Squall winced, but quickly fought back, casting Blizzard on Ifrit. The energy from the ice attack jolted him significantly. At the same time, Quistis cast some cure on herself to recover from Ifrit's assault.

"UGH! Not bad for a human..." the GF winced. "But you are still no match for me!"

Squall looked on at Ifrit's huge body. He was right. Squall could never defeat Ifrit alone. His torso was almost like a human, only much larger, and he had the face of an animal. Ifrit's intimidating horns gave him an dangerously evil appearance.

But he was just like any other GF. He had his weak spots.

Squall focused, and summoned his equipped GF, Shiva.

Quistis watched on, ready to attack if needed, but it looked as if Squall was handling everything well. She simply cast a cure spell on him, just to be safe.

Then, the ground shook, and Shiva appeared, inside a huge stalactite, blasting upwards from the ground. Shiva was a beautiful ice maiden, her skin a cold shade of blue and he hair long, white and flowing. She was encased, sleeping, in the pillar of ice. Her eyes opened, and she shattered her cold surrounding with ease.

"They have SHIVA?!" Ifrit cried, in surprise and anger.

He was almost tempted to run back into his lair, but it was too late. Shiva cast her magic on Ifrit, and ice surrounded him. He was injured badly by the attack, and could no longer fight. Shiva disappeared with a flash, and Ifrit stumbled.

"For me to loose to a human," he gasped, lowering his head in exhaustion. "Very well. I will join you."

With seconds to spare, Squall had beaten Ifrit. As Squall resisted an urge to show any emotion, the Guardian Force disappeared, and Quistis spoke.

"Well done," she congratulated him, proud of her student. "Now let's get back to Garden. You'll need to prepare before the field exam."

Squall agreed. They left the Fire Cavern, returning to Garden. For an even larger challenge awaited Squall today.


	4. Dollet

As Balamb Garden's extravagant gold gates loomed into sight, Quistis gave Squall instructions to change into his uniform and assemble in the first floor lobby, ready for the SeeD exam. As she turned off, heading towards the Faculty room, Squall made his way down Garden's walkway, into the main area, heading for his dormitory.

Squall had lived in the same dorm for the entire time that he had attended Garden. It was actually the only home he remembered being in. He was so young when he first came to Garden that he couldn't remember any previous homes.

Squall was an orphan, as many students of the Garden were. But he was orphaned at such a young age that he couldn't even remember his parents. None of the Garden staff seemed to know who they were either. This didn't actually bother him too much, though. He had a home, and he thrived on the rules and discipline that Garden had provided for him. He adored the strict, academic atmosphere, and had learnt to become extremely independent at a young age. He always relied on himself, never turning to others if he had problems.

Squall's dorm wasn't particularly large, but big enough for all his belongings. His comfy bed lay against one wall, with his desk directly opposite. On the desk were weapons magazines, class textbooks, and various scraps of paper with notes he had written on while in class. Leant against one leg of his desk was his gunblade case, although he rarely put it away, and hanging up on the curtain rail of his small window was his SeeD cadet uniform.

Squall took off his leather jacket and gloves, replacing them with his cadet jacket. Then, removing the belts around his waist and on his legs, he changed his black trousers for the navy blue ones.

After he had dressed, Squall looked in the mirror. It was a uniform he was proud to wear, but after today's exam, he wanted to put on the outfit that represented his goal. To become a SeeD. To wear the SeeD uniform.

In the main foyer, by the directory, Quistis was waiting for Squall. She looked impressive in the SeeD uniform; its yellow and silver collar teamed with her hair color perfectly. She saw Squall arrive and called him over.

"Squall! Over here!"

Squall walked over calmly.

"I'll be announcing the squad assignments for the exam now. Let's see...You'll be with..." she looked at the papers attached to the clipboard in her hand, "Zell Dincht. Quite a lively fellow."

Although the group assignments were handed out at random, Quistis thought that Squall might benefit socially by having a more outgoing partner for the exam. So she was glad when Zell Dincht was picked to be in Squall's group.

"Lively?" Squall scoffed, hand on one hip. "He's just loud. Can't I switch members?"

"I'm afraid that's not possible." she replied with a tiny smile. She then looked over Squall's shoulder and saw his partner. "Over here, Zell!"

Behind Squall, Zell Dincht, age seventeen and standing at a rather short five feet and five inches, was practicing some martial arts fighting moves on the air around him. Looking up when he heard Quistis' voice, he headed towards the two, doing a handless cartwheel and two backflips, before landing perfectly and giving a thumbs up teamed with a big grin.

Everyone in Garden knew that Zell was an expert at hand-to-hand combat. He did not employ, nor did he need, any weapon. Only gloves. His spiky blond hair was gelled up and back, so that everyone could see the intricate black tribal tattoo running down the one side of his face, right from the top of his forehead down the middle of a cheek.

Zell was a local student from Balamb, now in his forth year at Garden, having started at age thirteen. Zell had worked hard to pass the SeeD requirements since he entered Garden, and all that was left now was to pass the final exam. Zell aspired to become like his grandfather who was once a solider, but tended to act on impulse rather than reasoning. He also had little tact and tended to blurt things out without thinking about the consequences of his actions. At heart, however, he was an honest and dedicated young man.

Zell approached Squall, then looked at him and reeled back in surprise.

"Whoa!" he shouted, very loudly. "I'm with _you_?!"

Giddy with excitement, Zell rubbed his hand on his pant leg, spat on it, then offered a handshake to Squall.

Squall folded his arms and gave Zell a quizzical look.

"You don't get along with Seifer, do you?" Zell asked nosily, unfazed by Squall's cold greeting. Squall didn't reply.

"Heard he whooped you pretty bad this morning!" Zell continued, positively beaming at his new team member.

"We weren't fighting," Squall retorted quickly. "We were training."

"I bet you _he_ doesn't think so," Zell replied, not seeming to listen to Squall.

__

"As if I care what you think," Squall thought with a glare.

"Look," Zell began, matter-of-factly. "Seifer's just being a pain in the ass. All you have to do is ignore him."

"…Thanks for the advice," Squall grunted sarcastically. He didn't really appreciate some pint-sized hyperactive idiot telling him who to ignore and why. "But it's none of your –"

"Business!" Quistis blurted out, without being able to stop herself. She was getting very used to predicting Squall's sentences now, and it just came naturally to her.

"Ahem. Excuse me, but…" she gathered herself, a little embarrassed, and the two boys looked up at her. "That Seifer you're talking about...he's your squad leader."

"SAY _WHAT_!?" Zell screeched in disbelief, jaw dropping to the floor.

"It can't be changed," she sighed with a shrug, just as disappointed as the other two. She then looked around the lobby. "Seifer! Are you here?"

Seifer Almasy heard Quistis call and walked slowly up to her from where he had been lounging around in the lobby. His 'posse', two rather odd students by the names of Fujin and Raijin, trotted along behind him like little lapdogs.

__

"Fujin and Raijin tagging along as usual," Squall noted. "_Guess that makes up the whole disciplinary committee_."

There were several student-based committees around Garden, to encourage social relationships and extra-curriculum activity. Seifer and his posse had volunteered to develop a disciplinary committee, in which they would help the staff to enforce the rules at Garden. The headmaster had no objections, but that was because he didn't know that Seifer just used it as an excuse to push people around.

"You're the squad leader," Quistis told him with a false smile, obviously not pleased at the decision. "Good luck to you."

"Instructor," Seifer began in a sarcastic, mocking tone, "I hate it when people wish me luck. Save those words for a bad student that needs them, eh?"

Quistis admired Seifer's abilities, but his attitude got on her nerves. He wouldn't show any respect for her, and he had trouble with following orders; he was just too cocky, too sure of himself. Seifer wasn't even wearing his cadet uniform, like Squall and Zell. He was dressed casually in his trench coat and vest. No one said anything though, probably because Seifer had taken the SeeD test so many times, and failed, that no one actually cared anymore.

"Ok then," Quistis said breezily, flicking hair from her eyes. "Good luck, Seifer."

Seifer scowled at Quistis, then swung his hand back and stopped it abruptly.

"Add Instructor Trepe to the list," he said menacingly to his committee.

__

"The list?" Squall wondered_. "What is it?"_

"Well then," Quistis carried on after rolling her eyes at Seifer's empty threat, "You three make up Squad B, and I'm the Instructor in charge. Remember, teamwork is of the utmost importance. Let's get through this exam, everyone!"

"Listen up!" Seifer chimed in. "Teamwork means stay out of my way. It's a Squad B rule. Don't you forget it!"

Zell, angered by Seifer's bossiness, turned and shook his fists at him, but stopped when he suddenly heard the voice of Headmaster Cid.

"Everyone here?" The headmaster asked, in a fatherly voice, approaching the team from the elevator. The headmaster, who was in his forties, short and a little podgy, always gave a speech to the students leaving for the field exam. He wanted to encourage them first-hand. Cid was a very dedicated Headmaster and all the students respected and admired him, even Seifer, to a degree.

"It's been a while everyone. How are you all doing?" he asked warmly. "This exam will involve 12 Garden students from squads A through D. You will be proceeding to a real battle field. Obviously, the battles are for real. Life and death. victory and defeat, honor and disgrace - each of these go hand in hand. There's only one way, or the other."

He stopped a moment, squinting his eyes a little, and leaned forward, peering at the three over his glasses.

"How about it? Are you still up for it?" he asked, smiling a little. Of course he knew they would be. "You will be accompanied on this mission by 9 SeeD members. Should you fail, these members shall get the job done. They always do. So, that's one less worry on your minds."

He raised his arms and spoke louder now, raising his red vest over his stomach slightly as he did.

"The pride of Balamb Garden! The elite mercenary force, SeeD!" he said proudly. "Learn from them, obey their commands, and accomplish the mission. Prove yourselves worthy of becoming a member of SeeD!"

"Best of luck," he concluded with another warm smile.

Seifer, seeing that Cid was finished, turned and walked towards the Garden's parking lot, followed by his posse. Zell left as well, leaving only Quistis, Cid, and Squall at the directory. Cid leaned over to Squall and put his hand on Squall's shoulder.

"We've never had a gunblade specialist in SeeD before. That's why I'm hoping you and Seifer will join us," he said, hope filling his voice. "Now go."

Quistis looked over at Squall and smiled.

"Let's get a move on!" she said encouragingly.

****

Squall made his way to the parking lot, followed by Quistis, and they pilled in one of the Gardens vehicles, along with Zell and Seifer. They were on their way to Balamb town, where they would mount a transport, and then be briefed on the upcoming mission.

In the car, Zell became restless quickly. He tried to initiate some conversation.

"Yo, Squall. Show me your gunblade, will ya?" he asked hopefully.

Squall had his gunblade safely encased beside him, but he wasn't the type to show off, and he ignored Zell.

"Come on man!" Zell insisted with a whine. "Just a _peeeek_?"

Squall, becoming annoyed at Zell's childish manner, continued to ignore the spunky cadet. Zell finally seemed to give up.

"Tch, fine," he tutted with irritation, then just muttered to himself while bouncing one of his feet anxiously. "Yeah, yeah..."

After another minute or two of awkward silence, Zell decided to give it another shot.

"Why you bein' so selfish? Scroooge!" he teased Squall, but still got no response. "Say somethin' will ya?! W-What's on your mind?"

Quistis looked over at Squall with a private smile, seeing that he was at his breaking point now, and knew what he was about to say.

"Nothing," Quistis and Squall replied in unison.

Quistis laughed a little, and Zell looked at her with a raised eyebrow and a face of confusion. Zell began to get even more nervous, and he got up and began hoping around the car, sparing with an invisible opponent. Squall was relived that he had found something to do, rather than bothering him, but Seifer found it irritating.

"Stop that," Seifer requested bluntly as Zell bounced around him. "It's annoying."

Zell stopped, glaring at Seifer, who just smirked back.

"Chicken-wuss," he mocked quietly.

"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?!" Zell yelled angrily, raising his fists and shaking them violently at Seifer, who chuckled to himself. Seifer loved winding up Zell; he was such a loose cannon.

"That's enough!" Quistis shouted, rising to her feet. She was worried that the two boys might start a fight in the vehicle. "Knock it off!"

Zell plopped down, still fuming at Seifer, and Quistis gently returned to her seat, shaking her head at their childish behaviour. Suddenly, Squall remembered something that had happened in the Infirmary.

"Instructor..." he addressed Quistis respectfully.

She turned her head to face Squall, signaling him to continue.

"Who was that girl in the infirmary this morning?" he asked wonderingly, hoping that she had seen the young woman.

"Was someone there?" Quistis asked, slightly surprised. "I didn't notice anybody. Why, is there a problem?"

"No, not really," Squall replied, a little sadly. A mysterious girl that he didn't recognize was just another worry in his mind that he didn't need.

"This is great," Seifer shook his head in disbelief, and chuckled again to himself. "I have _chicken-wuss_, and a guy who just reached _puberty_ in my squad!"

Zell shook his fists again, while Quistis just shook her head and Squall said nothing, staring at the floor.

They reached the town of Balamb shortly, driving down the town's main street. It was a peaceful harbor-town, and the SeeD vehicle caused quite a commotion as it zoomed down the road.

For the most part, the people of the small town of Balamb enjoyed the academy's presence in their country. Balamb was a peaceful area, and only a small group of armed forces was needed, but they felt better knowing that Garden was nearby, ready to defend them if it was necessary. Garden would not let its hometown be taken over.

The car carrying Squall, Zell, Seifer, and Quistis reached the harbor and parked. Squall got out from the car and looked around. The air was fairly silent and calming; the only sounds being chirping seagulls circling the sky above and the waves splashing up against the wall of the harbor. Balamb was a popular area, with its luxurious hotels, useful shops and train station, but all the time it remained quiet and peaceful. The students from the military academy seemed a little out of place, as did the dark, menacing and high-tech submarine-style vessel that was sat in the docking bay.

"That's the vessel we're taking? " Squall asked, looking over at it as Seifer stepped out of the vehicle.

Seifer looked over at the sea vessel, equipped for both underwater and above water travel, and primarily used for short ocean voyages by SeeD, but didn't have time to respond to Squall, as a SeeD instructor called them over.

"Hey! You guys are the last! Hurry up and get in!"

"Ain't no turning back now," Seifer told Squall, quite sincerely, while placing his hands in the pockets of his coat and raising an eyebrow. "You worried too?"

__

"Huh…?" Squall was too shocked to reply to Seifer's sudden friendly question.

"Come on, move it!" Quistis interrupted impatiently, ushering them forwards with her hands.

"Don't disappoint me now," Seifer teased privately to Squall with a grin, returning to his cocky personality and slapping his squad member on the shoulder.

Squall, Zell and Seifer ran over to the ship and clambered through the entrance hatch. Quistis followed after her students, and the vessel's engines started. The group sat down in the conference area of the vessel waiting to receive their instructions. A few minutes later, Xu appeared from the ship's upper portion.

"Hi, Quistis," the brown-haired woman greeted the Instructor, who nodded back to her politely.

Xu was a very important member of Garden, a deputy Headmistress of sorts. Loyal, trustworthy and a brilliant all-round fighter, Xu was an integral part of Balamb Garden. She advised Headmaster Cid on decisions made within Garden, and helped him a great deal with any paperwork or problems that needed sorting out.

"Well, these are the members of Squad B," Quistis told Xu, trying not to giggle. Zell, Sefier and Squall looked a rather odd group when they were together.

"Pleased to meet you," Squall greeted her professionally with a salute, as Zell tapped the side of his head twice then pointed it to her with a wink.

"Nice to meet ya!" he exclaimed.

Seifer sat opposite his two team members in silence, and Xu looked over at him, expecting a greeting, although she knew she probably wouldn't get one.

Xu had met Seifer on four formal occasions, and all of them had been SeeD exams. There was a SeeD exam for each season of the year, and so far Seifer had failed all four, which was why he was a year older than the other students in Quistis' group.

"Seifer, how many times has it been now?" Xu asked impatiently with a sigh. She was very professional, and had been a student at Garden herself. She absolutely hated it when students didn't take their education seriously. Seifer didn't know how lucky he was, to have been accepted into Garden in the first place.

"Oh, I just _love_ these exams," Seifer sneered sarcastically. Xu ignored him.

"I'll explain the current situation, and the mission," she began, making her way over to the monitor display on the wall, and officially started the briefing. "Our client for this mission is the Dollet Dukedom parliament. A request for SeeD was made 18 hours ago. Dollet has been under attack form the Galbadian army since approximately 72 hours ago."

The computer screen showed a map of Dollet. Little red lights closing into the center of the map represented the enemy forces.

"49 hours into the battle, Dollet abandoned their position in the inner city," Xu explained. "Currently, they have retreated into the nearby mountains and are reorganizing their troops. That's the current status. Now, onto the mission objective. According to our reports, the Galbadian army is mopping up the Dollet troops in the mountain region."

The computer screen zoomed in on a more specific location.

"We're to make a landing at Lapin Beach, and eliminate the remaining Galbadian army within the city and liberate it A.S.A.P. After that, SeeD members will intercept any Galbadian army forces trying to make their way into the mountain region."

"So, what are we supposed to do?" Seifer interrupted, looking bored.

"SeeD candidates are to eliminate Galbadian army forces inside the city," Xu replied simply.

"Sounds important!" Zell beamed with delight, leaning forward in his chair and licking his lips with excitement.

"Sounds _boring_," Seifer rolled his eyes, then turned to Xu with an accusing frown. "So what you're saying is, we do all the little dirty work."

Xu ignored him again – she found that pretending Seifer wasn't there made him a little more bearable.

"Oh, and it hardly needs to be said, but the order to withdraw takes priority," Xu reminded the group. "Don't forget that. We should almost be there, and we anticipate a battle as soon as we disembark. So just be prepared."

"That's all," she concluded. "If you have any questions, talk to Quistis."

Everyone was quiet as Xu left the room, but Zell was squirming uncomfortably, even though he was sitting on his hands, to try and control himself. He finally spoke.

"My first real battle," he said slowly in realization. "I'm getting pretty nervous."

"Better not piss in your pants," Seifer smirked.

"Hah! You talkin' to me?!" Zell snorted.

Seifer just chuckled to himself again. Zell was getting really angry at him now.

"...Bastard," he mumbled.

"Okay, enough talk!" Quistis said sternly. 'We'll be landing pretty soon, so get ready."

"Roger," Zell replied, checking that the straps on his gloves were secure, and checking his shoelaces. One had came loose, so he tied it back up.

"Yeah, yeah..." Seifer said lazily, then yawned and stretched his arms up high above him. "Well then, Squall, go see what's going on outside."

"Okay," Squall agreed reluctantly. He hated having to take orders from someone who less than a day ago had ruthlessly attacked him and given him a scar that would last all his life … but Seifer was the leader, and this was an exam.

"Good," Seifer said bluntly, smiling smugly to himself. "Because it is MY order."

Squall didn't reply and went to the submarine's upper level, feeling the sea breeze very suddenly on his face as he climbed out onto the deck. The salty hair blew his hair around wildly, and his jacket fluttered in the breeze. Squall stayed out there for what seemed like hours, happy to get away from Seifer, and out into the calm surroundings. Finally, he saw Dollet in the distance, and he knew that the battle was going to begin shortly.

From the Dollet shoreline, he heard explosions and gunfire abound. He reached into his jacket pocket and took out a map with a transparency overlay. He held it up to the town in front of him, comparing the two. The usually peaceful town of Dollet was different now. It was a battle field.

The several SeeD vessels rode up to Dollet's shoreline quickly and violently. They crashed onto the beach, with SeeD cadets and SeeD members alike swarming it immediately.

Squad B's vessel crashed onto the coast last and the doors opened automatically. Seifer ran out, followed by Zell and Squall. Quistis began to issue their orders.

"Ok, you are to secure the Central Square!" she shouted over the noise of gunfire. "Be sure to equip your GF before you head into battle!"

"Let's move out!" Seifer said dramatically, facing the city.

He ran up a flight of stairs from the beach to the streets of Dollet. Squall and Zell followed him quickly, quite surprised at how roughly and suddenly they had been thrown into the action. As they reached the top of the stairs, two Galbadian soldiers rushed at them. Squall and Seifer drew their gunblades, and Zell stood with his fists up, poised to attack.

"These are Dollet's reinforcements?!" a soldier gaped in shock, looking at the team. "They're just kids!"

Squall attacked, shredding part of the soldiers uniform as he barely dodged Squall's blade.

"Wahh!" he yelled. "_Retreat_!"

"Just kids!" Zell spat as the soldiers disappeared. "Hah! We sure showed 'em."

Squall was about to point out that Zell hadn't actually done anything yet, but Seifer hurriedly led Squad B down the lit-up city streets, hearing the sounds of battle all around them. Seifer stopped in the middle of the road, turned around, and smiled.

"Having fun yet?" he asked with a delighted grin.

Suddenly, two Galbadian soldiers jumped from the overpass above their heads.

"Be careful, these are SeeDs!" one yelled.

"What?! They still look like kids!" the other one said.

Seifer finished off the soldiers quickly, leaving them nearly dead in the street. He ran ahead to clear the way.

"The Central Square is up ahead," he told his group as he ran. Then suddenly, he yelled out up into the sky. "Hey, all you Galbadian cowards out there! C'mon and show your faces! Don't leave me hangin' now!"

__

"What an idiot," Zell muttered so only Squall could hear him.

Squall remained silent, and followed Seifer up to the central square. When they reached their post, Another Solider appeared. Squall fought him off quickly. Seifer scoped his surroundings.

"There may be more," Squall said to him, looking around carefully.

"Alright then," Seifer replied. "I want you guys to scout the area for enemies."

Squall moved down the street a little, and spotted a solider spying on them from behind a car. Zell rushed the soldier, knocked him out, and threw him into the alley. After scanning the rest of the area, Squall was satisfied.

"That's all of them, I think," he reported back to Seifer.

"Well then, we're on standby until the enemy comes." Seifer said. "Standby...puh! How _boring_."

Seifer paced back and forth, bouncing his gunblade on his shoulder. After a few minutes had passed, they heard loud explosions off in the distance.

"Sounds like it's starting," Squall said, rubbing his hands together, trying to keep warm. Although it was late spring, the evening was quite chilly.

Seifer looked at him.

"Bring it on," he boasted, showing off as usual.

A small dog that had been following the trio came up and sniffed Seifer's leg, whining.

"Get outta here!" he yelled at it, "Scram!" he swung his gunblade at the animal, scaring it off. He then ran over to the far side of the town square, yelling.

"Hey, Galbadian soldiers! What are you waiting for?! Show me what you got!"

The dog barked and howled at Seifer's yelling.

Squad B waited anxiously for Galbadian soldiers to come in. After 15 minutes, nothing had happened. An hour... Nothing.

Zell was pacing back and forth nervously, wondering if they had made a wrong move somewhere. Seifer just stood up on a wall, his foot tapping, and his weapon up and ready to attack.

"The HELL!" Zell shouted in a sudden outburst. "Man…Now_ this _is what I call boring. It ain't right man!"

Seifer was still tapping his foot, ready to kill something with his sword.

"Still keeping us waiting...?" he asked no one in particular.

The dog was still there, whining, and Seifer couldn't take the wait anymore.

"That's it!" he exploded with frustration. "What _is_ this? Some kind of _dog training_?!"

The dog ran over to the far side of the central square, howling at something. Several Galbadian soldiers came skulking through the square.

Seifer was already hidden from view, but Zell and Squall had to quickly duck behind the fountain to avoid being seen. There were too many soldiers for them to take on.

After the soldiers had crept passed them, Squall returned to his upright position.

"It's the enemy," he whispered, wondering why the soldiers had been moving around so sneakily.

"Where the hell are they going?" Zell whispered back, a little shakily.

All three looked up to the mountain range, where the soldiers seemed to be heading. They suddenly noticed a large tower of some type up on the mountain.

"Hey! What's that up there?!" Zell said, pointing.

Seifer thought for a moment, pausing for effect, then smirked. He pointed his sword down the street the soldiers had went down.

"Our next destination," he announced.

"But that's against orders!" Zell replied instantly.

"Weren't you just saying how _bored_ you were?" Seifer reminded him.

"Squall?" Zell looked over to his fellow squad member for some support; he couldn't believe what Seifer was suggesting.

"I stand by the captains decision," Squall replied firmly, after taking a quick glance up at the mountains.

"Captains decision?" Seifer repeated, surprised, then walked over to Squall.

"You want to wreak some havoc too, don't you?" Seifer taunted as he squeezed him around his shoulder.

"It's a good opportunity to test out my training," Squall retorted, brushing him off in annoyance. He didn't feel like giving Seifer the satisfaction of openly agreeing with him. "Thanks to you, I feel like I can take on anyone. Even if they do fight _dirty_... like you."

"You'll thank me when the time comes," Seifer said mysteriously.

Zell, standing behind the two, was confused by their conversation.

"What the hell?" Zell said thoughtfully. "I thought you guys didn't get along? You're, like, all buddy-buddy now."

Squall and Seifer said nothing. They really didn't like each other, but they respected each other's skills. It was the only reason that they had ever gotten along at all, which happened rarely anyway.

"Listen," said Zell, getting back on the subject. "This ain't no ordinary battle. It's an exam. An important one. I'm tellin' ya, we have to stick to orders!"

"Then you stay here. I don't need any boy scouts," Seifer spat mockingly.

"What was that?!" Zell yelled.

"Don't take him too seriously, Zell," Squall offered. He then turned to the rebellious Squad leader. "Seifer, if we're gonna go, let's hurry."

"The enemy is headed for that facility up there. We, Squad B, are to secure the summit," Seifer ordered professionally. "Move out!"

"Tch...fine," Zell gave in. He didn't want to be left alone in the dark while there were Galbadian soldiers about.

The squad crossed a wide, lit-up bridge leading into the mountains. As they crossed, they saw the bodies of several Dollet soldiers lying on the pathway, which ran further up the mountain.

"_What happened here?" _thought Squall, turning his gaze away from the injured soldiers. It made him feel quite nervous.

Squad B moved up the path to a flight of stairs. Halfway up, they heard a rustling in the bushes, and quickly poised ready for battle, until they realised it was just another injured Dollet soldier crawling out.

"Ahh! Who are you three?" he asked, frightened.

"Don't worry," Squall assured him. "We're SeeD candidates. We've been dispatched by Garden."

"What's going on up there?" Seifer asked, pointing upwards with his gunblade.

"The Galbadian soldiers have entered the communications tower. We don't know why," the soldier explained breathlessly, clutching at a wound on his arm. "On top of that, this area has always been a nesting ground for monsters. If you guys are going up you'd better be-"

The poor solider was interrupted by a loud hiss and was yanked back into the bushes by a giant snake with a scream.

Squall recognised this snake from one of his textbooks at Garden - it was an Anacondor. A huge terrifying snake, with natural tones and large fangs with had inside them a poisonous, but not deadly, venom.

With no hesitation Squall took a swipe at the Anacondor, and it released the Dollet soldier, who scuttled away in a hurry. As the giant reptile took a lunge at Squall, Seifer quickly sliced the side of it's body. It hissed in pain, then wrapped it's scaly tail around Zell's body and tried to choke him.

"H-Help!" Zell tried to shout, but it came out as a squeak. He squirmed around in the snake's coils, punching and kicking the enemy, but it was no use.

Seifer and Squall teamed together and both attacked the Anacondor simultaneously, Seifer slicing down the center of it's face and Squall shooting it through the heart. The snake immediately loosen it's grip on Zell, and he tumbled to the ground and rolled safely out of the way as the Anacondor gave one last his and coiled itself into a neat ring, dead.

Squall wiped the blood from his gunblade and the sweat from his forehead.

"Monsters huh?" he said, out of breath. "Great."

"This situation sucks," Zell agreed, rubbing the back of his neck, which was a little sore from where the Anacondor had been strangling him.

"Just means more fun for us!" Seifer cried pleasantly, apparently unfazed by the battle and the drips of still warm blood on his coat. "Come on."

"Fun?" Zell echoed as Seifer ran off once again. "Puh-_lease_!"

Making their way to the top of the mountain, Squad B stopped on a cliff which overhung the communications tower. From it they could see the front doors to the building, and three Galbadian soldiers were talking there. They had to listen carefully, but Squall, Zell, and Seifer could just make out what was being said.

"The generator is up and running!" said one.

"No problem with the boosters," said another.

Squall listened, but none of it made sense. It sounded to him like they were just fixing it.

"The hell are they doin'?" Seifer whispered. His team members didn't answer as they all waited eagerly to hear more.

"Cable disconnection confirmed! Beginning exchange process!"

"Roger."

"Repairs?" Squall wondered aloud.

Seifer decided that it wasn't worth trying to figure out. He wanted some action, and he was going to get it.

"Who cares?" Seifer snorted impatiently, ready for a fight. "This must be your first real battle. You scared?"

"I don't know," Squall shrugged, realizing that the question was aimed at him and not Zell. "I try not to think about it."

"I love battles. I fear nothing," Seifer boasted dramatically. "The way I look at it, as long as you make it out of a battle alive, you're one step closer to fulfilling your dream."

"What?" Squall raised an eyebrow, and nearly laughed. "Your _dream_?"

"You have one too, don't you?" Seifer asked, as if 'having a dream' was something to be expected of a person.

"Sorry, but I'm gonna pass on that subject," Squall said bluntly, crossing his arms.

"Yo! Let me in on it, too!" Zell demanded, not liking to be left out of any conversation.

"Mind your own business," Seifer replied coldly.

"Frickin' hell..." Zell took some loose shots at Seifer, shaking his fist again in anger.

"What's the matter Zell? Swatting flies?" Seifer mocked, then walked away.

"Damn you!" Zell yelled after him.

Seifer was walking along a curved path, heading to the communications tower. Squall and Zell were about to follow him when they heard a girl's voice.

"There you are!"

A female Garden cadet stood on a rock, beaming at them. She waved wildly and started climbing down, but she slipped and tumbled, landing on her knees in front of the two SeeD candidates. She giggled, then shook her head and winked, unfazed by her clumsy fall. Squall then realised that the girl was the hyperactive transfer student he had given a tour to. She sprung onto her feet and took a step over to him.

"Are you... Squad B? " she asked hopefully, with her hands neatly behind her back and shifting her weight from side to side.

Squall nodded.

"Heey, wait a minute!" the girl said delightfully. "You're the guy who showed me around, right? Thanks! I don't get so lost anymore. Oh yeah... I don't think I've told you my name yet! I'm a messenger. Name's Selphie, from Squad A."

"I'm Squall," he introduced with another nod. "What's the message?"

"Sorry," Selphie apologized, "But I was told that I have to give the message to the Captain first. It's protocol I guess. The squad leader is Seifer, right? Where is he?"

They heard footsteps down below. It was Seifer, and he was already at the doors to the tower. Seifer looked up at them.

"One of these days, I'm gonna tell you 'bout my ROMANTIC dream!" he shouted with a manic grin.

"That's him," Squall told Selphie, pointing down at his captain.

"This exam sure is tough," Selphie sighed, placing one foot on the cliff ledge in front of her. "Hey, Captain! Wait up!"

She suddenly lunged forwards and dived off the cliff, landing a little clumsily, and then shouted back up to Squall.

"What are you waiting for?!" she asked incredulously. "Come on!"

"Squall, you're not gonna - it's a _cliff_, man!" Zell blurted, as Squall eyed the cliff ledge thoughtfully.

"No," Squall agreed, not wanting to loose any points from his final exam mark. "We can go around."

They walked around the same way Seifer had gone, and once they reached the front, Selphie was still there, waiting for them.

"What took you so long!? It would've been much quicker if you'd jumped," she told them.

"Puh-_lease_!" Zell rolled his eyes. "People don't normally go around jumping off cliffs, OK?! Ain't that right Squall?"

Before answering, Squall took another look. The cliff actually wasn't that high, they probably could have jumped without getting hurt. Selphie had done it, and she was a tiny young girl. Squall felt a little embarrassed.

" I don't know, Zell - maybe only a chicken-wuss couldn't make it," Squall joked, but it didn't go down too well.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY!!!?" Zell shouted back, clutching his fists together.

"I guess you're the chicken-wuss, since you're so angry," Selphie said simply, bouncing slightly on the balls of her feet.

"WHY DOES EVERYBODY THINK-?" Zell burst, then calmed down a little. "I'm not a chicken, okay?! I just – okay, _fine_. I don't care anymore. Call me whatever you want..."

Zell's words trailed off and he turned his back to the two other students. Squall felt even worse now.

"Don't take it so personally, Zell," Squall offered anxiously.

"Tch," was all Zell said.

"Well, c'mon," Selphie said impatiently. "Let's get going!"

"So this is a communications tower?" Zell asked, glad that the teasing was over and that they could get back to the exam.

"It sure is big," Selphie said, gawking at the tall structure.

Before the trio could enter the tower, two Galbadian soldiers came running out of the door, screaming. Seifer followed them out, swinging his gunblade at them dangerously. After they had fled, he remained in the entrance.

"Cowards," he mumbled.

"HEY!" Selphie reached out to grab Seifer and get his attention, but he ignored her and disappeared back inside the tower. "The captains getting away!"

Selphie ran in after him, and Squall and Zell followed. They were in a room with no doors, no windows, and nothing else except for a pad on the floor which worked as a lift, taking people to the upper level.

"Did he go up...?" Squall asked wonderingly, peering around. There didn't seem to be anywhere else Seifer could have gone, so taking charge, he lead the other two onto the lift.

"Wow, this lift is pretty cool!" Selphie giggled, once they were on and it started to move upwards with a whirring noise.

"Don't get to excited, or you'll fall!" Zell warned as she peered excitedly over the edge.

"Oh, like I'm really going to!" Selphie scoffed, crossing her arms. Sure, she was clumsy sometimes, but she wasn't stupid.

Up on the top level of the structure, two Galbadian soldiers were preparing the tower's satellite system.

"Major Biggs!" one soldier in blue reported to the other. "There has been reports of a huge shadow moving around on top of the tower! Some of the men think it might be a monster..."

The soldier's commanding officer was silent, paying attention to the repairs he was doing.

"Major Biggs!" the soldier in blue said again.

"Be quiet Wedge! I'm busy!" Biggs barked, then began to mumble to himself as he worked. "This goes like this, and ...Geez, what's with these old crappy tools? And, and - Why do I have to make all the repairs!"

"Uh, sir, I'll check around while the repairs are being done," Wedge walked away nervously. Biggs didn't even acknowledge him.

"Let's see... hmmm... Put this here, and..." Biggs continued quietly under his breath.

The lift carrying Squall, Zell and Selphie, finally reached the very top of the tower after a long journey. As they stepped off cautiously, the floor beneath them began to shake.

"There, it's done!" they heard the red soldier in front of them say.

Machinery began clunking and whirring to life all around the communication tower, and a tool wobbled and fell through a gap in the flooring, landing right down at the bottom of the tower with a bang. Levers were switched on automatically, turbines started moving, and a huge pillar shot up from the center of the tower. Squall only just leapt out of the way in time for it to shoot up past him and not knock into him.

Shocked by the massive contraption, Squall blinked in disbelief as the pillar then spread out, forming a circle, and curving itself slightly inward, forming a huge satellite dish.

The floor stopped shaking, and it seemed that the communications tower was now fully operational.

"What do you think you're doing?" Squall blurted out to the Galbadian soldier in red.

"HUH?" Biggs reeled back in surprise. "Likewise, mister! What do you think you're doing? Hey! What happened to all the soldiers down below?"

Squall, Zell and Selphie didn't answer as they took out their weapons and stood in their battle poses. Squall held his gunblade up in front of him with both hands, ready to attack the enemy and also guarding himself, Zell raised up his gloved fists and Selphie cracked together her nunchaku – two strong wooden sticks linked together with a silver chain.

"WEDGE!" Biggs called out nervously. "Take care of these twerps!.

There was no answer, and the three students each took a step forwards.

"Wedge?" Biggs called out again, looking around. He was totally surrounded with no backup. "Well... I, uh... Seem to be done here so I'll just be on my-"

As his speech distracted the three, he whipped out a gun and pointed it to them.

"I'm leaving!" he shouted, barging them out of the way with his weapon. "Move it! Move! Move!"

But as he neared the lift, Seifer came up on it and swung his gunblade at the soldier, knocking the gun from his hand.

"Sorry to crash the party," Seifer grinned, showing off to the max.

"AHH!" Biggs yelped, clutching his wrist, although it wasn't cut. "Are you CRAZY?!"

"Just shut up," Seifer spat, still holding up his gunblade. "Galbadian scum."

"SCUM?!" Biggs roared. "You're gonna pay for that! Prepare for the worst, you little brats!"

Unluckily for the group, Biggs also had another weapon concealed about his person – a sword. But before had a chance to use it, Wedge ran to his side.

"Have you finished the repairs, sir?" Wedge asked calmly, then looked at the four students. "What is the enemy doing here!?"

"WEDGE! Where were you?!" Biggs demanded. "No pay for you this month!"

"...Should've stayed home!" Wedge sighed to himself.

Before the fight could get off the ground, a huge gust of wind swept over the communication tower and Biggs and Wedge were picked up into it, like a mini hurricane.

"AAAGGHH!!!" they both screamed and disappeared from sight.

Suddenly a huge figure dropped down from above, it was one of the monsters that the Dollet soldier had told them about. A particularly nasty one at that - it was a huge flying Elvoret. The Galbadian soldiers had probably disturbed its nest while fixing the tower, and now it was turning on Squall, Zell, Selphie and Seifer, attacking with strange wind-magic.

"Look out! " Squall warned, as the huge purple colored beast attacked, its red eyes gleaming with anger.

Selphie whipped her nunchaku at the monster, and it cracked over it's eyes. Seifer jabbed his gunblade into its large wings. But the monster, annoyed more than hurt, simply slapped them away with ease. Squall was almost knocked down, but he came to just in time to dodge another attack from the beast.

The monster opened its arms, taking in a deep breath, and Squall saw his opportunity to attack. He lunged his gunblade into the beast's chest, piercing the flesh while also shooting a bullet into it. The monster's eyes widened, and it howled with pain. It stopped flapping its powerful wings, and fell down. But it wasn't dead yet. The Elvoret grabbed suddenly at Zell.

Zell dodged, and attacked the beast with all the might he could contain in his fists. He finished off the monster with several powerful blows to its head.

Squall sighed with relief. He cast a couple of cure spells on himself, Zell, Selphie and Seifer just to regain their strength.

Selphie ran perkily over to Seifer.

"Squad B captain?" she addressed him politely with a salute. "S'cuse me! I have new orders! All SeeD members and SeeD candidates are to withdraw at 1900 hours. Assemble at the shore!"

"_Withdraw_?!" Seifer repeated. "But there are enemies still around!"

"I know, but I'm just a messenger," Selphie explained.

"An order to withdraw takes priority," Squall put in. "I don't want to miss the vessel."

"What time d'you say?" he asked Selphie, crossing his arms.

"Like I said," Selphie sighed impatiently. "1900 hours!"

"1900 hours," Seifer rolled up his sleeve to look at his watch. "We only have 30 minutes!"

He looked at Squall, and started backing off quickly.

"You got 30 minutes to get down to the shore! Better run!" he told the others as he ran onto the lift and descended to the bottom of the tower.

"Hey! Wait for us!" Selphie called after him, but it was too late.

"Who the hell does he think he is?!" Zell complained.

"Why don't you ask him?" Squall answered Zell's question unhelpfully with a shrug. "Come on, let's go."

After the elevator had come back up from Seifer's trip, Squall, Zell, and Selphie boarded it. As they went down the elevator Major Biggs, barely conscious from the monster's attack, pulled out a remote control from inside his uniform and began pressing the buttons on it wildly.

"Those little twerps are the targets – now go and DESTROY THEM!" he gasped, then flopped onto the floor helplessly as the remote tumbled out of his hand.

Outside the tower, Squall and the others were getting ready to move quickly.

"Let's hurry!" Selphie jumped up and down nervously and began running.

Squall began to follow, but stopped suddenly when he heard something moving above him. They looked up and saw a large machine crawling on the bottom of the satellite.

"What now...?" he sighed.

A huge spider-like robot jumped down, attacking the group.

"What is that thing?!" Zell yelled in surprise.

The students didn't know it, but this Galbadia creation was an X-ATM092 – a spider-like mechanical robot with 8 thick legs, a powerful central cannon and a pulsating red 'eye' which could home in on enemies.

"It doesn't matter! Let's just take care of it and get out of here!" Squall commanded, then summoned his Guardian Force, Quezacotl.

A lightning bolt from the sky shot down, and a swirling mass of blue and green energy spun around over Squall's head. It stopped spinning and spread out in the shape of a large, magnificent, bird.

The featureless foul hovered above the group, blue streaks of lightning flowing in its body. It threw its head back and then attacked. Through what would be its beak, the bird shot forth massive amounts of electrical energy at the Galbadian machine. The robot shook and then collapsed, wires hanging out and fizzing with lightning.

"Let's get the hell out of here!" Zell cried, spinning on his heel and stumbling a little as he scrambled back up the winding path onto the cliff ledge.

Squall couldn't have agreed more. As far as he could tell, they had maybe 20 minutes left, if they were lucky, and they still had to make their way through the whole of the town.

The three remaining members of Squad B ran down the road as fast as they could, but they felt the ground shake beneath them, and heard a metal clanging. Something huge leapt right over their heads and stopped them in their tracks. It was the X-ATM092 again!

"I thought we busted that thing up?!" Zell cried over the loud clanging noise, then raised up his fists ready to battle the robot for a second time.

"Forget it!" Squall instructed, deciding that since Seifer wasn't around, he would be the leader for a while. "Let's go!"

They found their way through the mountain's path that they had ascended earlier, and finally made it to the streets of Dollet again. But the robot was following closely behind, it's metal legs clanging faster and faster. The machine was quick, especially for its size, and it could leap incredible distances. It had no trouble keeping up with Squall and the others.

As the mechanical beast followed them down the streets, Squall cast a Thunder spell on it as he ran, trying to slow it down. But it wouldn't stop, and began chasing them even more mercilessly.

Squall turned a corner. He was pretty far behind Zell and Selphie, who were both quite small and could run faster than him. They also weren't weighed down by their light weapons, but Squall's gunblade was heavy and not exactly designed for running with.

Suddenly Squall stopped. He couldn't hear or see the X-ATM092 anymore.

"Hey, you guys!" he called out to Selphie and Zell, but they had just turned a corner and didn't hear him.

Squall was about to shout to them that the robot had gone, but it caught him by surprise, smashing suddenly through a building from the opposite side of the street. After effortlessly piercing a parked car with it's pointed claw, it then began to chase Squall again.

Squall's face was now red with intensity, and his legs ached from running so far so quickly. The exam had become more dangerous than he'd expected. Galbadian soldiers were one thing, but this unstoppable machine was quite another.

He had ran through the city's main roads in a matter of minutes, skidding slightly on sand that had been picked up on people's shoes from the beach, and was thankful when he finally saw Lapin beach loom into sight. But some of the vessels were already leaving.

Squall was about to cry out for them to wait, but before any words could escape his mouth, the X-ATM092 caught him on the back of his legs and he tumbled over a wall onto the beach.

He rolled to soften the impact, then just as he climbed to his feet he saw Selphie and Zell look back with concern, but they didn't stop running.

X-ATM092 leapt down and landed hard on the sand as Squall continued to run. Thankfully, it didn't seem to be able to move so quickly on the uneven sand. But then again, neither could Squall. He slipped and stumbled many times, but managed to regain his balance.

Selphie ducked under the open hatch of the vessel and climbed in, as Zell got in after her, then waved his hand wildly at Squall as if to say "Hurry up!"

When the ship's pilot saw the X-ATM092, he decided to pull out from the shore slightly to avoid getting attacked. But they were still waiting for Squall.

Worried that his group would abandon him, Squall ran even harder now, his lungs painfully inhaling and exhaling. The robot had almost caught up to him, and it sprang forwards to attack. Its sharp-ended legs would have impaled Squall in that instant, but seemingly out of nowhere, rapid gunfire knocked the machine to the ground.

Squall, still running, only yards away from the vessel now, looked up. Quistis had saved him.

She was on the submarines upper level, attacking Squall's pursuer with a machine gun that had been mounted on the ship. Multiple firings pushed the robot back again and again, until finally it collapsed, and the red pulsating eye went blank.

Squall leaped from the shore as the X-ATM092 exploded, throwing shrapnel across the beach. He barely caught the edge of the vessel, and pulled himself in. Quistis, seeing that he had boarded safely, instructed the vessel's captain to close the rear doors, and to move out. The vessel began to zoom away.

Squall peered through the closing double doors, and as his heart pounded rapidly, he took one last look at Dollet. The exam that would give him the chance of finally being a SeeD - and it had been total chaos.


	5. Congratulations

The vessel pulled into Balamb dock late that afternoon. Squall quietly dismounted the vessel, followed by Zell, Selphie, and Seifer. Fujin and Raijin were waiting there for their posse leader.

"SEIFER!" Fujin called out loudly, excited to see him.

"How'd it go?" asked Raijin.

Fujin and Raijin were an odd pair. Someone would never guess that they were brother and sister, they were the complete opposite of one another.

Fujin, with her silver hair, uniform, and eye patch, looked stern, strict, and unemotional. Her ghostly pale skin gave her an even more uptight appearance.

Raijin, on the other hand, had a deep, natural tan. He wore a open vest which exposed his bare chest, and loose dark blue trousers. Always relaxed, and a bit of an airhead, Raijin was rarely good for a serious conversation. But he surprised even his sister on occasion.

"Man, all they did was get in my way," Seifer complained to his friends with a sigh. "Being a leader ain't easy."

"SAFE?" Fujin asked, in her usual manner, but slightly concerned. Her way of communicating was odd. She only spoke one or two word sentences, and spoke them loudly to get her point across.

Seifer didn't speak, he simply shrugged his shoulders, then lead his posse over to the yellow Balamb vehicle they had arrived in much earlier that day.

After having a few last words with Xu, Quistis then departed from the vessel.

"Good job!" she congratulated everyone with a few claps, then looked around. "Where's Seifer?"

Squall pointed over to where Seifer had walked off.

"Just be back at Garden by sundown," Quistis instructed, glad that each of her students were safe and accounted for. "You're all free 'til then. Ok, dismissed!"

As Squall started to follow Zell and Selphie into the town of Balamb, he looked back at Quistis. He wanted to thank her for her help at the beach. But, for some reason, he decided not to. She was an Instructor, after all – any person of authority from Balamb Garden would have acted in the same way.

"You're free to go," Quistis told him again, after noticing that Squall was looking at her. "You can buy some souvenirs, have a review meeting - it's up to you. I recommend you go back and rest, though."

Squall nodded again, then followed his friends. Reaching the dock, the three students had arrived just in time to see Seifer driving away in the Balamb vehicle, taking only Fujin and Raijin with him.

"H-hey!" Zell ran after it for a few steps, but he was never going to catch up with it. "Not again! Man, there goes _Mr. Ego_..."

"Might as well walk it," Squall said glumly to his friends.

Zell, who was from Balamb, lead the two through the quaint little town. It was only a few minutes before someone recognised him.

"Hi, Zell!" a man sat on a bench called out with a wave. "How are you doing?"

"You know me," Zell boasted, punching his chest. "I'm always good."

"Good," the man smiled. "Make sure you stop by and say 'hi' to your mum."

Zell's house was right opposite, so the Balamb students trooped down a small flight of stairs and through a slightly rounded wooden door. It opened with a creak and Zell popped his head round to see if anyone was home. As a matter of fact, there were quite a few people there, including Zell's matronly mother.

"Ma, I'm home," he called out with a grin as they entered the cosy house.

"Zell, what a surprise!" Ma Dincht turned around from the stove and noticed her son and his fellow students. "Do you have a day off?"

"Nah, outdoor class," Zell explained, then turned to the others. "This is my house. But don't make yourselves too comfortable!"

"Why?" Squall asked, raising an eyebrow. He found it quite rude, and began making his way over to the stairs that lead upwards.

"Yo, Squall! That's my room up there! It's sacred!" Zell explained. "So just keep out!"

"Whatever," Squall muttered, then looked down at the floor as two small children crawled past him.

"Are these your brothers and sisters?" Selphie asked with a giggle as a baby girl began tugging at the ties on her boots.

"Nah, nah," Zell shook his head and laughed. "Ma helps some of the mom's in Balamb by babysitting sometimes. Come on through, I'll get us some snacks."

He lead Squall and Selphie into the dining room where they took seats at the table. As Zell passed him a drink and a hot dog, then began chatting to Selphie, Squall couldn't help but listen in on a conversation between an old man and a little girl.

"Long, long ago, when this world was just made," the man was saying, in a storytelling voice, "There was a strong god called Hyne."

"And, and?" the girl asked impatiently, raising up slightly from her chair.

"This god was very, very strong, but after fighting a lot of monsters, he became very tired," the man continued, faking a yawn. "So he made 'people' like you and me to do all the work, and the god went to sleep."

"So he took a nap?" the little girl asked.

"That's right," the old man nodded kindly. "However, the god was very surprised when he awoke. Surprised that there were so many people."

"Yeah, there are so many people in this world," the girl agreed.

"Hyne decided to reduce the number of people by taking away the children," the old man said spookily.

"You mean...children like me...?" the little girl squeaked.

"Uh huh. Scary, isn't it? Of course, everyone was scared then, too," the man continued. "And so, the battle against Hyne began. Even though the people were small, they all got together, and finally cornered him."

"Wow!" the girl exclaimed with excitement.

"Hyne didn't know what to do. Out of desperation, he gave half of his body to the people and ran off with the remaining other half."

"He can do that?"

"Well, he was a god. Anyway, it turns out Hyne tricked the people. The half that Hyne ran away with was the half that had the stronger magic."

"Wow...So we still can't find the other half that ran away?"

"Hmmm...It might be close by, actually. It might even be watching you."

Squall shuddered very suddenly. He couldn't help it.

"Wassup, Squall?" Zell asked with concern. "You cold?"

"No," Squall shook his head. "No, I'm fine."

Actually, he wasn't fine at all. He was spooked out. He knew what that shuddering feeling was – people used to say it happened when someone walked over your grave.

__

"Come on, Squall," he told himself. _"Get a grip. It's just a kid's fairytale."_

"Well, we should probably be going back," Zell said, climbing to his feet. "Bye, Ma!"

His mother waved goodbye to him as the students left, stepping back out into the warm sunlight and cool breeze. Squall felt a little better as they began to make their way back to Balamb Garden. The road was long, but well paved, and Squall, Zell and Selphie got back to Garden just before sunset.

Upon reaching Garden's front gate, Zell spread his arms wildly and yawned loudly.

"Huuuwahaah! Finally made it back," he smiled.

"Seriously," Selphie agreed, rubbing her sore legs.

"Well, I guess we just wait for the test results," Zell concluded with a shrug. "'Til then. See ya, Squall."

"See ya!" Selphie waved as she followed Zell on the way to their dorms.

As Squall walked into Garden, he saw Xu, Quistis, and Headmaster Cid standing by the directory, and couldn't help overhearing their conversation as he walked past.

"Mission complete!" Xu said gladly, clasping her hands together. "I think we did a pretty good job. The candidates are all back safely, right?"

Quistis nodded her head, and Xu continued.

"Although we didn't realize at first that the Galbadian army was after that abandoned communications tower," she said.

"We've just received word from the Dollet Dukedom," Cid explained. "The Galbadian army has agreed to withdraw, as long as the communications tower is repaired and the up-link remains operational."

Both Xu and Quistis frowned at this. They and their candidates hadn't fought so hard just to have Galbadia making demands, but they were glad to hear of the withdrawal.

"Well, in any case, Galbadia is out of there," Xu said optimistically. "But we could've made more money if they'd stayed and caused more agro."

"Hey! you did pretty well today!" she commended, noticing Squall.

"Of course!" Quistis smiled. "He's my best student..."

Squall didn't say anything.

"He's not very social though," she laughed.

"How did it feel out there on the battlefield?" Cid asked Squall excitedly.

Squall wasn't really sure how to answer the headmaster. It was exciting, a real adrenaline rush, to be out there. But Squall didn't want to sound over-emotional about it.

"It felt pretty good, to be out there and actually fight," he finally said.

The headmaster always enjoyed the student's enthusiasm.

"That's the spirit!" he said, then warned, "Just don't let it go to your head."

"The results for the exam should be announced soon, just stick around here," Quistis told Squall, who went to sit down for a moment.

It had been a hard day. He had almost no time to rest since he had left the Infirmary that morning. He hadn't even had very much to eat that day, but he was concerned with other matters.

No matter how much Quistis and Xu commended him, Squall couldn't help feeling that he may not have passed the exam. Perhaps Zell had been right all along, and they never should have gone up to the communication tower. He wouldn't know, he'd have to wait for the results to be given out by one of the Garden Faculty.

Squall became restless just sitting there on the bench, so he went to walk around a bit.

As he passed by the library, he noticed Seifer. He was standing by the library entrance, looking off into the distance. After a minute, he noticed Squall, and began talking to him.

"D'you hear about the communication tower in Dollet?" he asked a little glumly.

Squall nodded, not sure why Seifer seemed so preoccupied with the subject.

"We would have been heroes if it weren't for that withdrawal order," Seifer said, quietly but angrily.

"You were only looking for a fight," a voice said, and Quistis walked over followed by Xu.

"My dear instructor," Seifer began, mocking respect for her. "I'm hurt. Those are rather cruel words for an aspiring student."

Seifer had an excuse, or at least an annoying retort for everything. Quistis was sick of hearing his 'speeches'. She sighed heavily.

Seifer, noting Quistis expression, narrowed his eyes and hardened his voice.

"A mediocre instructor like you will never understand," he said coldly.

"Seifer, don't be so stuck on yourself." Xu replied, defending her friend. "You'll take all responsibility for leaving the designated area."

"Isn't it the captain's duty to take the best possible action?" Seifer argued.

Xu had heard enough from him. After taking _this_ many exams, he should have known better. Seifer had broken orders, endangered the mission, and hadn't even worn his _uniform_ for the assignment. He was going to hear it like it was now.

"Seifer," she began very harshly, "You'll _never_ be a SeeD! Calling yourself a captain is a _joke_!"

Xu's words cut deep into Seifer's pride, finally pushing him off the edge. For once in his life, he had no clever retort, no sarcastic remark, no offensive insult … the words just echoed in his head like daggers stabbing his chest: _"…**Never** be a SeeD … a **joke**…"_

Seifer hung his head, shaking with anger. Xu simply walked off, content that she had put him in his place.

Headmaster Cid walked over to the group, then dismissed Quistis. She bowed and walked away with Xu.

The Headmaster looked saddened more than angry, but his tone of voice was harsh.

"Seifer," he started, "You will be disciplined for your irresponsible behavior."

Seifer said nothing, he didn't even acknowledge the Headmaster, and simply kept staring down at his boots.

"You must follow orders exactly, during combat," Cid continued, "But I'm not entirely without sympathy for you. I don't want you all to become machines. I want you all to be able to think and act for yourselves. I am..."

A robed Garden Faculty member appeared behind Seifer, staring at Cid, and he interrupted.

"Headmaster, you have some business in your office..." the Garden Faculty member said impatiently.

Cid sighed.

"There are so many issues at hand here," he said to no-one in particular, or maybe just to himself.

Cid finished, and walked off abruptly.

Seifer still stood there, staring at the floor in silence. Squall thought it would be better to leave him alone, but just then an announcement came over Garden's P.A. speaker system.

"All students who participated in today's field exam, report to the 2nd floor hallway," a voice crackled, as Squall began walking away from the library entrance.

"I repeat. All students who participated in today's field exam, report to the 2nd floor hallway."

"_Finally..." _Squall thought, running up to the elevator.

The hall was littered with nervous students. Squall saw Zell, pacing back and forth, biting his lower lip and his hands rooted firmly in the back pockets of his trousers.

"S'up," he greeted quietly. "Only our squad and squad D in this room. Said they're gonna call out names … one at a time."

Suddenly, a Garden Faculty member appeared, startling all the cadets. He held a clipboard in one hand, with a list of the names of each student that had passed.

"The following students from squad's B and D successfully completed today's SeeD exam," the Garden Faculty member began, then paused to create suspense. He peered down at the list. "In alphabetical order…"

__

"Get on with it, man!" Zell whispered to himself. The tension in the room was horrible.

"Dincht," the Garden Faculty member finally called out. "Zell Dincht."

"OHHH YEAAHHHH!!!" Zell's eyes widened with excitement, and he jumped into the air, punching it with both fists. He then gleefully marched down the hall, and into the elevator to ride up to the third floor, where the successful students would be officially welcomed to the ranks of SeeD in the Headmaster's office.

"Squall," the Faculty member called out. "Squall Leonhart."

Squall felt his heart rise proudly in his chest, but he walked calmly and silently to the elevator. He was excited, but he wasn't about to make a fool of himself by showing it. It just wasn't his nature to react in a similar way that Zell did.

The Garden Staff member looked at his list once more, and lifted his head.

"That is all," he concluded. "You are dismissed."

Several students hung their heads, some clicked their fingers, and others muttered condolences to their friends _"Ohhh, unlucky."_ But they all walked off together, feeling dejected.

Cid's office was quite a different atmosphere, and Squall realised that he had never actually been in it before. It was quite a rare occurrence, to be called up to the Headmaster's office.

It was a fairly plain room, mostly maroon in color, with wooden furniture and simple decorations, such as lamps, a framed certificate, and so on. T Headmaster stood before the students whose names had been called, and smiled proudly.

"These are the four students that passed today's exam," a Garden Faculty member who was stood by Cid's side explained.

Squall, who was stood neatly in the row, leaned forwards slightly and looked at the other three students. They were Zell, Selphie, and one other male student who Squall didn't know. That was all. Out of the twelve, they were the only ones who had qualified as SeeDs. Only then did Squall realize what an honor, and how difficult it was, to become a SeeD.

"First of all, congratulations," Cid began his speech. "However, from now on, as a member of SeeD, you will be dispatched all over the world. We are proud to introduce SeeD, Balamb Garden's mercenary soldiers. SeeD soldiers are combat specialists. But...That is only _one_ aspect of SeeD. When the time comes-"

"Headmaster, it's almost time for the meeting," the Faculty member interrupted. "Please keep this short."

Unfortunately, Cid was not the only driving force at Garden. In fact, his influence over mission acceptance, and many other decisions, had become increasingly limited, unbeknownst to everyone but himself, and the Garden Faculty. The real influence over such decisions was not interested in SeeD's true purpose. And the Garden Faculty, employed by the very same person, were to look out for monetary interests alone. They discouraged Cid from saying anything which made that seem as if money were of secondary importance.

"SeeD is a valuable asset to Garden. Its reputation is solely dependent on each one of you. Handle your missions with care," the Garden staff attempted to finish Cid's speech. "Is that what you wanted to say, sir?"

Cid didn't reply, and instead walked over to each student, congratulating them one at a time. They also received their brand new SeeD uniforms, that were even customized with name tags. The Headmaster picked up the four packaged uniforms from his desk and looked at the first one.

"Selphie," he read out, and walked over to her, at the end of the row. He then handed her her uniform, shook her hand, then leant forwards and whispered in her ear. _"I'm looking forward to the Garden festival!"_

"Nida," he read the second uniform, and did the same to the unknown male student. _"Do your best, even if you don't stand out."_

"Zell," Cid smiled as he walked over to Zell, who has been shaking nervously the whole time. Zell accepted the uniform with unsteady hands. _"Try to control your emotions a little."_

"And Squall," Cid said, handing him the last uniform. _"Finally, a gunblade specialist."_

"This ends the SeeD inauguration," Cid concluded, returning to the center of the room. "Dismissed!"

All four students gave a salute, and left the room happily. Squall was on his way out as well, when Cid stopped him.

"Oh, Squall, let me give you this," he said, handing Squall what appeared to be a small, hand-held computer. "It's used for recording battle information. I thought you might enjoy it." The headmaster smiled and whispered something else. _"We'll talk privately one day."_

Squall thanked him, a little confused, and exited the headmaster's office. He looked at the score sheet which had been handed to him along with his uniform. It was broken down into 5 sections, each with a score out of five, and then a final score out of 10 – his SeeD ranking.

__

Conduct … 3

Judgement … 4

Attack … 5

Spirit … 4

Attitude … 3

SeeD ranking … 9

Comment … Well done! Glad to have a gunblade specialist on the SeeD team.

A SeeD rank of 9. Not top of the class, but quite impressive, Squall decided. On the floor below, Selphie and Zell were prancing about excitedly.

"SeeD!! SeeeeD! SEEEEED!!!" Selphie recited, skipping around.

"OHHH YEAAAHHH!!" yelled Zell, linking arms with her and then they swung each other around, laughing happily.

Squall was happy too, but there was one thought that bothered him.

After new SeeD's were enrolled, an inauguration prom, or ball, celebrating their achievement was held. Squall thought it was frivolous, and unnecessary, but it was expected of him to attend, and he wasn't about to start breaking orders his first day on the job.

Outside, on the second floor corridor, Seifer was waiting for Squall. As the new SeeDs walked out, they saw him standing there with his 'posse'. Seifer looked dead serious, and Zell thought that he was going to start a fight. But he didn't. Seifer just stood there, and then... he clapped.

__

"Huh...?!" Squall thought, trying to figure out what Seifer's angle was. But then Squall realized that his gesture was actually, for once, sincere.

Fujin followed suit, as did Raijin and several other students, most of which had been in the exam.

Squall was embarrassed - they all were. Even after all Seifer had said, and in spite of the fact that he had not passed the exam, he was congratulating them now. It was the most respectful thing Squall had ever seen Seifer do. It surprised him, to say the least. Maybe Xu's hurtful words had really changed Seifer for the better. They'd just have to wait and see.


	6. Chapter 5: Shooting Stars

**Chapter 5.**

**Shooting Stars **

  
Two hours after the inauguration, Squall walked down to his dorm to prepare for the party. Once inside, he saw Selphie standing near his door.

"Hah! Found you!" she said. "Well, what do you think?" she asked him, showing off her new clothes. "My SeeD uniform!" 

_"Looks good..." _thought Squall. _"I can't wait to put mine on..."_

"You should get changed too. We have that party to go to." Selphie told him.

Squall went into his dorm, and changed from his cadet outfit to the new SeeD uniform that had been delivered to his room. 

_"This is it_._"_ thought Squall. _"This is what I've been waiting for..."_

He put on the uniform quickly, but carefully. He looked in the mirror and adjusted the straps.

_"Finally..."_

He looked at his uniform proudly. Now it felt really official. Squall was a SeeD.

He was about to leave for the party, but something caught his eye. He continued staring into the mirror, tracing his finger along the red scar-tissue running across the bridge of his nose.

_"I guess Dr. Kadowaki was right... This isn't gonna go away."_ he thought. _"Dammit, Seifer..."_

Squall then realized something which disturbed him. 

He had given Seifer almost the exact same injury.

Squall had noticed Seifer's scar during and after the field exam, rembering that he _had_ actually cut Seifer during their training session that morning. But he hadn't given it much thought, until now. He looked at his own scar, and saw the erie similarity.

_"That's really weird..."_ Squall thought._"It shouldn't have happened though... Seifer doesn't know when to quit..."_

Him and Seifer were rivals, _that_ Squall knew. It had even gotten pretty intense at times, landing them both in trouble with the Garden staff. But Squall never imagined that Seifer was _that_ obsessed with the rivalry. The cut that Seifer had made on Squall's face that morning could have been fatal. Was it just to encourage the competition? 

Squall shook his head and decided to just 'forget about it'. The fact that him and Seifer were now 'branded' in the same way was to weird for Squall to think about, anyway.

When he finally walked out of his dorm, dressed in his shiny SeeD uniform, Selphie was still waiting for him.

"Heeey! Lookin' good!" she said. 

Squall nodded, silently, and began walking towards the door.

"Alright! Let's hit that PAAH-TAY!" Selphie yelled.

***********************************************************************

In the Garden Ballroom, Squall was hidden from the rest of the people there. He had eaten dinner at the party, and then been leaning against the marble pillar for about half an hour. One of the waitresses noticed him, and offered him a drink. He took it, grateful to have something to keep him busy.

Garden's ballroom was used rarely, but it was by far the most stunning area in the academy. A huge glass dome overhung the dance floor, revealing the moon and countless stars in the sky above. Many people were dancing underneath the twinkling lights, having a good time. But Squall didn't notice. Instead, he stood there sulking. 

_ "God, I'm so bored..." _he thought. _"Maybe I should go talk to somebody_..._"_

Squall then heard a voice that made him change his mind about that.

"Yo!" Zell caught sight of Squall, leaned up against the pillar. He ran over to him.

"S'up Squall?!" he said, excited. "Heh-heh. I guess we're both SeeDs now, huh?" Zell rubbed his hand on his pant leg.

_"Not this again_..._"_ Squall thought.

But Zell avoided the 'spitting' part, and merely offered a handshake to Squall.

"Put it there man." he said.

Squall took a sip of his drink and turned his head.

_"...Leave me alone..." _Squall thought, irritated.

Zell, hung his head, laughing.

"Hah! Even as a SeeD, you're still the same." he said. "Well, that's typical of you." 

Zell shrugged off Squall's rudeness quickly. 

"See ya!" Zell yelled as he ran off to join the rest of the party. Just as Zell started moving though, Selphie caught sight of him and stopped him in his tracks.

"Oh... Hey, Zell. Wanna join the Garden festival committee and..." she asked.

Zell liked parties, but joining the Garden Festival _committee_ was something a lot of students avoided... like the plague.

"Sorry I... ahh... Just remembered something! Gotta go! See ya!" was Zell's hasty reply.

Selphie frowned and looked for more possible candidates.

"Hmmm..." 

She scanned the room and caught sight of Squall.

"Squall! Hi!" she said, cheery as ever. She ran over to him, and wasted no time. "Wanna join the garden festival committee?" she saw his blank expresion, and tried to make the offer more appealing. 

"You can help out whenever you have time."

Squall was silent.

"...Please?" she said, teary eyed.

Now that he was a SeeD, Squall reasoned, he would probably be sent on a lot of missions, not really having much time for anything else. But Selphie really wanted to make the festival happen. Besides that, she wasn't going to stop asking about it until he joined.

"Sure, you seem to be putting a lot of effort into this." Squall said. His warm tone and kind words surprised Selphie, and even himself.

Selphie's green eyes widened.

"REALLY?!" she yelled. "Whoo-Hoo!" she jumped excitedly, her hair bobbing up and down.

_"...It's no big deal..."_ Squall thought. _"... I just don't want her to keep bothering me about it..."_

"I know we'll be busy with lots of SeeD stuff, but lets work hard on the Garden festival, too." Selphie said. Then she noticed a group of her friends and started to walk towards them. 

"Bye!" she said, waving to Squall as she left. 

***********************************************************************

Squall stood against the marble pillar all night as the party went on around him. He eventually found himself stargazing through the ballroom's glass ceiling. 

It was a clear night. So clear, that Squall felt like he could see every star in the galaxy. Even the well lit ballroom couldn't block out the twinkling light from the midnight sky. 

Suddenly, a shooting star flew across the dome. Squall followed the heavenly body with his eyes, its light reflecting in his pupils.

The fallen star led his eyes to the center of the ballroom, causing him to notice a young woman gazing at the same beam of light. Squall saw her, standing alone, in the middle of the dance floor. She was looking up to the sky, at first, but then she felt his eyes on her, and turned to smile at him.

She was a teenager, about 17 years old, wearing a small, white, strapless dress. Squall gulped as he looked at her. She was stunning. Her raven hair looked soft and smooth, contrasting beautifully with her fair skin. Her dark brown eyes and petite figure gave the girl an innocent appearance, yet she seemed to have a 'knowing' air about her.

She looked right at Squall, smileing. Lifting her arm, she pointed up, acknowledging the bright object that had caused their eyes to meet. Squall twitched his head involuntarily, embarrassed that she had caught him staring. 

To her, it looked like an invitation to come over.

Squall, who had never shown more than a slight interest in women, or romance in general, was stunned. She was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. 

_"Wow..." _he thought. 

The girl walked her small figure over to him. Squall wasn't sure he felt comfortable with this, but she was coming whether he wanted her to or not. 

She stood in front of him. Folding her arms, she said

"You're the best looking guy here." 

She put her hands on her hips now, leaning forward. 

"Dance with me?" she asked.

As pretty as she was, Squall did not want dance with _anybody_. He didn't even know how. He took another sip of his drink and turned his head.

Unshaken by his rudeness, she continued talking.

"Let me guess..." she teased. "You'll only dance with someone you 'like'."

Squall turned back to face her. He eyed her curiously.

_ "What is she talking abou...?" _

His thought was interrupted by her hand, which had suddenly shot up to his face. She wiggled her fingers slightly, and gazed deep into Squall's blue eyes.

"Ok then... Look into my eyes..." she said in a playfully hypnotic voice.

She wove her hand around in front of Squall's face, pretending to put him into a trance.

"You're-going-to-like-me... You're-going-to-like-me..." she continued. 

For a moment, Squall was actually dumbstruck. Usually, he would be irritated with this kind of playful behavior, but he didn't know what to think of this girl. Her 'hypnosis' actually seemed to have a strange affect on Squall.

She put her hand down, and tilted her head.

"Did it work?" she asked, still staring into his eyes.

Squall shrugged his shoulders. He didn't know what to say, except...

"...I can't dance."

The raven-haired beauty smirked.

_ "Even her smile is perfect..." _Squall thought, surprised at how much he was admiring this girl. She was _really_ cute, and she seemed fairly interesting.

"You'll be fine." she said. "Come on."

Suddenly, she grabbed Squall's hand and pulled him forward.

"I've been looking for _someone_. I can't be on the dance floor alone." 

Squall dropped his drink in surprise, and unwillingly followed her as she dragged him onto the dance floor.

_"What is she doing? I..."_ He hardly had time to think before they were already in the middle of the ballroom.

When they reached an empty spot on the floor, the girl helped Squall position himself correctly. She put his right hand on her hip, but Squall lifted it away, slightly nervous to be touching her. She repositioned it firmly. Blood rushed to Squall's face, as it turned a light shade of pink.

She didn't seem to notice his embarressment though, and placed her hand in his. The girl rested her left arm on his chest, wrapping her fingers around his shoulder. 

"I'll lead until you catch on, okay?" she said.

Squall nodded, not sure why he was even going to try this.

She stepped around in a circle, slowly, as Squall clumsily tried to follow her movements. 

He stumbled around a little more, and his hands slipped. The girl helped him reposition himself, and they continued.

"Okay" she said, moving a little faster. "This part's tricky..."

She pushed away from Squall, holding his hand, and pulled back to him. But he stumbled, and almost fell. He ran into the girl, just about knocking her over. 

She steadied herself and giggled a little. But Squall was embarrassed. His eyes darted around nervously, and he started to walk off.

_"I told her that I couldn't ..." _He stopped as he felt someone grab his arm.

"No... don't leave." the girl said. "It's okay. I'm fine. Just try again." 

Squall looked at her for a moment. Her eyes widened, pleading with him. She had a soft and gentle voice, which helped to reassure him. 

He sighed, and decided to give it another try.

_ "Alright... no screw-ups this time._" Squall thought. _"Just adapt... Like a SeeD would in battle..." _

Squall allowed her to repsition his hands and they began dancing again. The girl stepped around, matching the rhythem of the ballroom music, and Squall was starting to get the hang of it. He followed her as they moved sideways. 

But they ended up bumping into another couple.

_ "Not again..." _thought Squall, thinking he had made another mistake. 

The couple looked at them indignantly. Squall darted his eyes around, embarrassed. But the girl just threw her hands down, wrinkled her nose, and stuck her tongue out at the couple, upset with them for innterupting her and Squall's dance. The couple walked away, and the girl turned to Squall. She looked deep into his eyes and smirked. Squall began to feel much better. 

They began dancing again, and Squall was actually keeping step. Not only that, but he was leading. 

They slide away form each other, holding hands, pulled themselves together again, and Squall spun her. 

They stepped around each other, and parted. Squall spun her in his direction, placing his hand on the small of her back, and spun her out. They continued like that for the entire song, creating quite a preformance.

Finally, the music was slowing down. Just as they're hands came together at the end of the song, fireworks lit up the open sky above with a loud boom.

Squall looked up, admiring the bright lights. The young girl gazed at Squall's face, smiling.

"_He's so handsome..." _she thought._ "...and a good dancer... or at least now he is_." 

She continued looking at him, her brown eyes brightened by the fireworks.

Squall finally turned his attention back to his dance partner. But she suddenly looked over Squall's shoulder, as if something had caught her attention.

"Oh!" she said. Then, looking back at Squall, she said, "I'll be right back..." 

The girl clasped her hands together, apologetically, and winked at him. She walked off the dance floor quickly. 

Squall was speechless.

He just stood there a moment, watching the girl as she walked away. He was disappointed, to his surprise, that she had run off, but he simply shrugged and decided to go outside on the balcony for some fresh air.

After about ten minutes or so, he heard footsteps. He half-hoped that it was the girl he had danced with.

_"...I didn't even catch her name...." _he thought.

_"Oh well... Whatever."_

He was trying not to care too much.It would make him feel too uncomfortable if he did.

"You really are an excellent student. Even that dance was perfect." he heard someone behind him say. It wasn't who he had thought. It was Quistis.

After a long pause, Squall replied.

"Thank you." he said plainly.

Quistis stood there, not speaking. Squall didn't want to insult her, but he didn't feel like talking.

"Yes?" he sighed with annoyance.

Quistis got slightly upset at his tone.

"So, you'll dance with someone you don't even know, but you can't even stand being around me?" she said, half-joking.

_ "That's not what I meant at all..." _Squall thought, taking her seriously. 

"...Whatever." he said. "You're an instructor, and I'm your student. It's kind of awkward when you don't say anything."

Quistis laughed.

"That's true. I was like that myself." she said. She paused a moment, remembering why she had come out here to talk with him in the first place. 

"...Oh, I completely forgot. I wonder what's to become of me?" she said in a sad voice.

_ "Huh?"_ thought Squall. _"What does she mean...?"_

"I've come to give you an order." Quistis said. "You and I are to go to the 'secret area'."

_ "The 'secret area'...? Oh... in the training center...."_ Squall realized. _"What for...?"_

There was a hidden corner of the training center, free from monsters, where students could stay up late talking, and where couples could 'make out', without being disrupted by the Garden staff. Squall had never been there, but he'd heard of it.

"You know the place, right?" Quistis asked. "Where students go and talk after curfew."

"Yeah..." Squall said. "What do you want to do there? Are we going to tell everyone they're violating curfew? If that's the case, forget it. Leave that for the disciplinary committee."

Quistis laughed some more. 

"No..." she replied. "Now go get changed and meet me by the training center. This will be my... last order."

_"Last order_?" Squall thought._ "What doe she mean by that_?"

Squall didn't know if she was serious, or if she was merely playing with him, but he complied with her request. He nodded and headed to his dorm.

_ "Get changed and meet at the training center... What's this all about?" _he thought.

  


**********************************************************************

End chap 5.

Ahh. Rinoa. So lovely....Oh sorry! What was I saying? uhh... right chap5!. ^_^()

Well, this is what it's all about, my friends. Squall and Rinoa. I was racking my brain endlessly, trying to come up with a good way to describe the dance scene. (I don't dance, usually, and I don't know any, like, dance lingo. Feel free to drop some my way if you know any.) I tried to bring out Squall a little more too. Ya know? It's not like he has no heart. Squall cares about um... stuff too! ^_^. 

Actually, I'm just trying to show how Squall's so used to trying not to care and being apathetic, that it surprises him and kind of confuses him when he feels some genuine emotion. Unfortunately, it also puts him on the defense in a major way, and he gets all uncomfortable and becomes a complete ass-hole all over again. We'll see this in the next chapter when he is just straight-up _mean_ to Quistis...

So R+R! Did it make you laugh? Did it make you cry? I tried to bring out the same aspects that touched me when I saw the Ballroom FMV for the first time, so I hope I was sucessful in that...

Well, I'll start on chap 6 later. Right now, its time for me to go do some dishes! (Oh the joy.)

Hope you guys are liking my rendition of Quistis so far too. She's so sad... but she's a damn cool charecter to write about. ^_- The next chapter is the last one with Quistis in it for a while too. So I hope you 'Trepies' out there can hold out for a while!

No one has come up with an answer to my 'Biggs and Wedge' question yet... Ch'mon people! Doesn't anyone know? Oh, and by the way... I need a name for my story. FF8 'written adaoptation', just doesn't grab you by the shwartz the way I would like my title to. If anyone had a good sugestion, post a review and include it! 

  


P.S. Just in case you didn't read the 'P.S.S.' in the forward, the "*****"'s that I've been putting in here and there, signify a sudden or dramatic scene change or time lapse in the middle of a chapter. 

(i.e. Squall leaves dorm, ends up in ballroom. A not-so-dramatic scene change would be like, 'Squall leaves classroom, only to end up in the hallway _outside_ the classroom'. It's basically meant for me not to have to explain every single step. Kind of a crutch really... o.O)

*********************************************************************


	7. Chapter 6: A Lot to Think About

**Chapter 6.**

**A Lot To Think About**

  


Squall came out of the dorms dressed in his fur collared jacket and leather gloves again.

He passed the entrance to the parking lot where a Garden staff member was keeping guard. Though the party was still in progress, it was after curfew and the Garden staff were blocking the entrance to every major portion of Garden, except for the dorms, and the training center. 

Squall made his way to the training area, still wondering what Quistis wanted. 

He saw her standing against the wall in the training center's hallway. She was dressed in her causual clothes.

"Squall, I was just wondering..." she said. "Have you fought the T-rexaur in the training center?"

"...I'm not sure." he replied. 

_"Is this why she brought me down? For a midnight training session?" _he thought. But Quistis was simply making conversation.

"Come'on, let's go to the 'secret area'. It's just inside." she said.

**********************************************************************

The training center was a dangerous area. With monsters roaming freely about the center, it was required to have a partner when entering the grounds. Though most of the monsters weren't strong enough to be much of a threat, there was a few that posed quite a challenge to some students.

Quistis rarely had to worry when entering the training center, though. As a student, she had devoted a large part of her studies to monsters, and the type of magic they used. Most monsters could, without the aide of GF's, manipulate energy. A process called 'Blue magic'. 

Though few people took the time, Quistis had learned how to use 'Blue-magic'. She was one of the few living people who had learned the ability to use the same type of magic as monsters. She was able to cast certain types of magic without the aide of a GF. 

Becoming a 'Blue-mage' had gone a long way in helping Quistis achive SeeD rank. Though actually _using_ the skill took a great amount of concentration, and even dire circumstances at times, Quistis' knowledge of the skill, and of monsters in general, had been a great help to her in becoming the skilled fighter that she was.

At the very back of the training center was the so-called 'Secret area'. Squall and Quistis entered, trying to ignore the couples cuddling. 

The 'secret area' was an inner balcony overlooking the inside grouds of Garden. It was quite an interesting spot.

"I haven't been here for a while." Quistis said, nostalgically. She use to come here when she was a student, staying up late talking with Xu. Quistis walked over to the balcony, Squall followed her.

They could see all of Garden's inside from here. The large decorative ring around the headmaster's office could be seen shining brightly.

"What time is it?" Quistis asked.

Squall looked at her strangely. What was going on with her?

"It's after midnight." he said after a long pause.

"Oh well." Quistis sighed. Something was troubling her deeply. She looked as if she was going to cry, but she pulled herself together.

_ "What's wrong with her? ...Something going to happen at midnight_?_"_ Squall thought. _"...Whatever. I wished she'd hurry up_."

After an even longer pause, Quistis made an announcement.

"I, Quistis Trepe, am no longer an instructor as of now!" she said loudly. The annoucment surprised Squall, but he couldn't understand why she was telling him.

"I'm a member of SeeD now, just like you. Who knows, maybe we'll end up working together." 

She sounded hopeful.

Squall just looked at her.

"Oh... really?" he said with disinterest.

"Is that all your going to say?" Quistis asked. She tried to make it sound as if she was joking, but she was hurt, and it showed.

"If that's how it was decided, you have to abide by it." Squall said pointedly.

Quistis nodded her head, and bit her lip, holding back tears.

_ "She's not going to cry... is she_?_"_ Squall thought. _"I hope not. What does she expect me to do?!"_

"They told me that I failed as an instructor. Basically, that I lacked leadership qualities." Quistis said. "I was a SeeD by the age of 15, got my instructors license at 17..." she continued. "It's only been a year since I got it..."

Squall turned his head away so Quistis wouldn't see him roll his eyes. 

"_What is she expecting me to do? To say?" _he thought. _"This is her business, not mine."_

"I wonder where I went wrong... I did my best..." 

She stopped, noticing that Squall had turned away.

"Are you listening?" she asked angrily. 

"Are you done yet...?" Squall retorted.

Quistis couldn't respond. She was shocked by Squall's coldness.

"I don't want to talk about this..." he said. "What am I supposed to say about other peoples problems?"

Quistis knew Squall was anti-social, but she never imagined him to be this cold-hearted.

"I'm not asking you to say anything." she pleaded. "I just want you to... listen."

Squall was getting really uncomfortable now. Why was she confiding her feelings in him?

"Then go talk to a wall." he replied.

More confused than hurt now, Quistis asked Squall,

"Aren't there times when you want to share your feelings with someone?"

_"...No. Never." _he thought..

"Everyone has to take care of themselves." he said, looking away. He walked off. "I don't want to carry anyone's burden."

Quistis just looked at him with astonishment. She simply couldn't understand him.

_ "How can he be so callous? Is he like this with everyone he meets_?_"_ she thought. _"Or just me...?"_

Quistis had hoped to have more of a positive effect on Squall, but he was even colder than she'd thought him to be. 

"...No leadership qualities... Failed instructor... Perhaps they're right..." she said to herself. 

She decided to head back out of the training center with Squall. As the two walked along, an uncomfortable silence filled the air.

**********************************************************************************

After about five minutes of walking through the area, Squall and Quistis heard a scream echo through the training center.. 

"Somebody help!" a young girl's voice yelled.

Quistis ran toward the sound.

"Come'on Squall!" she called.

As they ran over to the corner of the Training center from which the scream had come, they saw her. A young woman in blue, with a green sash around her arms, being attacked by a giant, flying, Granaldo. One of the huge 'insect' type monsters residing in the training center.

"Squall! ...Quisty?!" the girl said with joy in her voice. She seemed to know them, but neither Squall or Quistis recognized her.

It didn't matter though. She was in danger. Squall drew his gunblade and attacked the monster. Quistis whipped her chain whip at it, cutting deep into its hide.

The beast was strong though. Quistis thought that they might be able to defeat it with just their weapons, but she didn't want to take any chances. She focused, and cast a 'Blue magic' spell she had learned called 'Laser eyes'. Two blue laser beams shot forth from Quistis pupils.

The monster was jolted severly by the beaming energy, and then Squall killed it before it had the chance to attack anymore. 

The girl in blue fell down with exhaustion and shock. Two strange men dressed in white jumped from the trees in the training center. 

_"...She's the girl I saw in the infirmary this morning..."_ Squall realized. He looked at the three people before him. Two uniformed men, and this strange girl. Who were they?

"It is not safe here." one of the men said. "Please, let's go."

They helped the girl to her feet.

"Alright." she replied.

She whispered, 'Thank you', to Squall and Quistis as the men led her away.

"Who was that?" Quistis said after a long pause.

Neither of them had an answer.

_ "Was it really the same girl..._?_"_ Squall thought._ "Of course. It had to be. She looked exactly the same... Who is she?"_

"Let's keep moving." Quistis interupted Squall's thoughts. "If there are monsters that big out right now, I don't want to be caught alone."

Squall agreed, and they made their way out of the training center together.

***********************************************************************

Out in the hallway, Quistis stopped Squall before he went to his dorm.

"Squall. It's not like everyone can get by on their own, you know?" she said, referring to Squall's cold-hearted attitude. She walked off without allowing Squall to respond. 

_"That battle back there should have been enough proof of **that**..."_ Quistis thought as she walked away. 

"...Says who?" Squall told himself.

************************************************************************

Squall walked to the dorms. It was far past midnight, and he was getting tired.

_"I'm not gonna get any sleep..."_ he thought.

In the hall, he saw Zell.

"Finally! There you are!" Zell cried out. "Where the hell were you? I was lookin' all over the place." 

Squall didn't answer him, so Zell continued.

"So, like, we're both members of SeeD, right? Well, guess what!" he said, excited. "We got our own rooms baby!"

Most students in Garden had to share a dorm with another student. But there were a few single room dorms that were reserved for SeeD members.

"Your new room's right across the hall from your old one." Zell said. "That's what the headmaster wanted me to tell you. Man, it took me forever!"

Squall didn't really care about having his own room. He was dead tired, and he hadn't rested all day. Now it was almost morning, and he just wanted to sleep.

_ "Hope I can..." _he thought. A lot had happened today. Squall had been almost severly injured, nearly killed by an enormous robot and a couple of monsters, became a SeeD, and even learned to dance. It was a lot to take in.

But Squall slept soundly all night. 

  


***********************************************************************

End chap 6.

Another short one for you impatient readers! But lots of questions are raised here.

Who are these strange women Squall keeps meeting? Is Quistis REALLY in love with Squall? Or does she just want to be his friend? And why is Squall such a jack-ass? (If you ask me, I think he had a rotten childhood...oh wait. He actually did.) It's mind boggling I tell you, mind boggleing. 

Thank you on the reviews. It appears I have more people reading this now. Which is great. Don't be afraid to post more than one review! Or really long reviews either! If you have a lot to say about this story, please say it. (I know I've given some writers HUGE reviews, which I hope hasn't irratated them too much, but I wouldn't mind an enormous review every once and a while, so have at it!)

You know, since I have begun posting this story, I have become aware of several authors writing similar stories ('Novelizations' of FF8) and I felt a little dissapointed. (I found out this, and also that someone on fanfiction has my same user name... only prefaced with a 'the'. This was not a good day... O.O) But, I still have tried, and will continue, to make as objective of a review as I can of those stories. 'Team-senshi', I very much apriciate your review (and future reviews, I hope.) of my story. Keep up the good work. (Except... dudes, slow down... You're already to the 'Forest Owls', and you're only on chapter 7!... My 'Forest Owl' chapter is No. 9! ^_^() You're beating me!

(Oh, and again to 'Team-senshi', your story was right. Seifer didn't have a scar until him and Squall fought. It's really hard to tell since the movie fades out right at that part. But If you'll notice, I went through my story and edited that part(s). It's not a big deal, and it doesn't effect any major storyline points, but this is an adaptation, not an AU or anything, so I want to be A.T.A.P. (As True As Possible.) to EVERYTHING in FF8. So if anyone is compileing this whole thing into one file, you might want to re-copy and re-place every chapter that is up. If this chapter is online, then updated versions of the 'Intro' through 'chapter 5' is up, too.)

  


Next up! Chapter 7. "There and back again", a hobbits ...uh ...I mean...Squall's holiday... I mean...mission. ( Good chapter titles are HARD! So, when all else fails, I just name them after the area that they take place. Tricky, huh? *Kicks self in pants for revieling secret*) 

Seriously though, chapter 7 is a special one. I was thinking that it should be merged with chapter eight, but it'll be more dramatic as two seperate chapters. You'll see why...

Chapter 7: First Mission

  


*********************************************************************


	8. Chapter 7: First Mission

**Chapter 7.**

**First Mission**

  


Squall awoke that morning to a knocking on his door

"Squall, it's our first SeeD mission!" Selphie yelled from the other side of the door."Looks like we're going to Timber! Meet by the front gate! Hurry!" and she ran off.

Squall pushed away the sheets slowly.

_ "A mission? Already...!?" _he thought. Squall had just become a SeeD yesterday. He never imagined that he would recive a mission this soon.

_"I guess thats the way it is, being a SeeD... You're on-call all of the time..."_

Squall showered, and put on his causual clothes. It was a warm day, but Squall always wore his fur collared, leather jacket, and black pants. He felt comfortable in the outfit. Squall also put on his necklace, a metal chain with an attached lion-head shaped pendant.

He strapped his gunblade onto its' hilt and started to head out the door. He caught a glimpse of his weapon in the mirror and rubbed some mud off of the trigger. Squall and Seifer were the only two students at Garden who used gunblades. 

The gunblade was an effective, yet ackward sword, which took years to control properly. It took even longer to fully master. 

But Squall and Seifer had started training with the weapon at a young age, and had both become very talented in using it. Seifer's gunblade was broad at the base, and then narrowed off to a point at the end. The blade was attached to the butt-end of a hand-gun, complete with a trigger. Squall's gunblade, however,was broader, and possesed a revolver-like handle. Squall had also had an image etched into his blade, along with a chain, both of which matched his necklace. 

Squall adjusted his gunblade, so he could walk comfortably with it attached to his belt, and left his dorm quickly.

***********************************************************************

As Squall passed some students in the hall talking about their classes, he almost ran into the 'jogger', a student who ran around the main hallway several times a day, trying to stay in shape. Squall admired the young student's energy, but it was funny to see a lower classmen have so much enthusiasm.

He finally made it out to the front gate. Headmaster Cid was waiting there, along with a Garden staff member, and Selphie, who was dressed much more approapriatly for the weather. She was wearing a yellow overall-skirt, and some comfortable-looking boots. The only other thing she had with her was her nunchaku.

Selphie Tilmitt was her full name. Though she had just transferred to Balamb Garden from Trabia Garden, Selphie had made many friends quickly. She was always outgoing and looking for something fun to do, which was why she joined the Garden Festival commitee. 

She was a bit exahuasted lately from all her activity, though. Becoming a SeeD within days of her arrival had been a tireing, but exciting expirience. Only _now_ she was reciving a mission right away. It was a bit too much.

_"Everything is happening so fast..."_ she thought. But she always remained optomistic and cheerful, despite any stressful circumstances.

Squall went over to the group. They were still waiting for one person.

"....One more minute..." The Garden staff said.

Suddennly, Zell came out, gliding on a T-board. He circled around the group and kicked his board up.

"Made it!" he announced.

Zell, too, was dressed causually in his black vest, sneakers and long shorts. 

SeeD were usually hired for covert operations, the recent assignment in Dollet being one of the few that required full-on assualts, and they were encouraged to simply wear their causual clothes most of the time. SeeD didn't want to draw attention to themselves by wearing uniforms too often.

The Garden staff looked at Zell angrilly. 

"T-boards are prohibited in Garden." he said "Have you forgotten?"

"Oops, sorry!" Zell apologized."But this is really cool. It may come in handy on a SeeD mission, someday."

_"Nice try, Zell."_ Squall thought.

"We'll be the judges of that." the Garden staff replied. He took Zell's T-board and handed it to another Staff member.

"Confiscate it." he said. Then he turned to the group. "All of you are members of SeeD, but... Nevertheless, you're still students at this Garden. Furthermore, because you are SeeDs. you must set an example to all others and abide by the Garden's rules. Understood!?" 

The staff member stood back now, allowing Cid to tell them about the mission. Zell shook his fist at the staff member while his back was turned.

"Well, about you first mission..." Cid began. "You are to go to Timber. There you will be supporting a resistance faction, That is your mission." Cid folded his arms. "A member of the faction will contact you at Timber Station..." 

The Garden staff butted in again.

"This person will talk to you and say, 'The forests of Timber sure have changed'. At this time you must reply, 'But the owls are still around'. That is the password." 

He stopped and allowed Cid to continue.

"Just follow the faction's orders." he said.

Zell looked around and was curious about something.

"Uh... Just us three?" he asked, confused.

The Garden Staff answered.

"Correct. We have agreed to do this mission for very little money. Normally, we would never accept such requests, but..."

Now Cid Interupted the Staff member.

"_Turnabout's fair play..." _he thought.

"Enough talk about that." Cid said. He looked at Squall. "Well then, Squall, you are the squad leader. Use your best judgement based on the situation. Zell and Selphie, you are to support Squall and give your all to carry out the faction's plans. You are all to leave immediately." Cid was about to dissmiss them, but he remembered one thing.

"Oh, and Squall, I forgot to give you this." He handed Squall an old, broken, oil lamp. "It's a cursed item, supposedly, but if you're strong enough you may be able to use it, It's said to contain a GF." 

He smiled at the group, proud that he was the headmaster of such skilled students. "Now go." he said. "Remeber the password." 

He went with the Garden staff, returning to his office.

Zell walked over to Squall.

"So, uh that's it? We just leave for Timber now?"

"._..I guess so._ " thought Squall.

"Alright." Squall said. "Let's get going. We have to catch a train to Timber from Balamb."

"Hey waitaminute!" Zell said. "Why aren't we taking the car to Balamb? It'd be a lot quicker..."

"Another group of SeeDs are probably using it." Squall said. "And whatever they're doing probably takes priority..." 

"Thats right!" Selphie blurted out. "Didn't the staff member say something about doing this for 'very little money'?" 

"That sucks..." Zell said, sulking. "Guess we'd better move out pretty quick then..."

***************************************************************** 

Upon reaching Balamb, the group was greeted warmly by some shopkeepers, and other residents. Zell approached an old man on a bench who seemed to know him.

"Hi, Zell, how are you doing?" the old man asked.

""Hey, how's it goin'!?" Zell replied back. "You know me, I'm always good."

"Good. Make sure you stop by and say 'hi' to your mom." the man said.

Zell turned to Squall.

"You don't mind do you...?" he asked. 

"I guess not..." Squall answered apathetically.

Zell ran over to his house, just down the street, followed by Squall and Selphie.

"Ma, I'm home!" Zell said, barging in.

"Zell! What a surprise! Are these your friends?" his mother answered.

Zell looked at Squall and Selphie.

"This is my house... But don't make yourselves to comfortable!" he joked. 

"So, Zell. Are you off today?" Zell's mother asked.

"Nah, 'Outdoor class'." Zell answered.

"Alright then. You drop by whenever you can. Even just to say 'hi'."

Squall took a look at the time. It wasn't late, but they needed to find out when the train for Timber left.

"We'd better get going." Squall said. 

"Yeah...Okay." Zell said, looking around his house. "I don't get to be home very much, ya' know?"

_"...Whatever."_ Thought Squall.

They left the Dincht house, and headed down the street for the Balamb train station. "Excuse me..." Squall asked a conductor. "Is the train headed for Timber here yet?"

"Yes. The train to Timber is here." the conductor answered, wondering what a bunch of teenagers were going to Timber for.

_ "Must be SeeD..."_ he realized.

"Three tickets to Timber?" he asked. "That'll be 3000 Gil."

_"Man... Thats pretty expensive."_ thought Squall, handing the conductor the money.

_"But I guess we'll be paid shortly after this anyway. We are SeeDs now..."_

"The Train will be leaving shortly." the conductor said giving them their tickets. "You know, all the SeeDs that I've seen off have come back safely." he said. "So, I'm sure there's nothing for you three to worry about, right?" He smiled at them. "Have a safe trip."

Squall, Zell, and Selphie found their way to the back of the station, where the train was prepareing to leave. They boarded quickly, and, within minutes, the train began moving.

Squall was leaned up against the door way, looking out the window, and Selphie on the other side of the trains entrance area, watching the outside as the train sped along.

"This train is awsome!" Selphie said, giddy with excitment.

"A transcontinental railway, baby!" Zell said, just as excited. "This track even runs through an underwater tunnel to get to Timber!" Pretty cool, huh?" Zell turned to Squall, hoping for some response.

"Sure is..." Squall said lazily.

Zell sighed and hung his head

"Guess you're not interested." he said. "Oh, by the way, Squall... You have to use your ticket to get in to our cabin."

Squall pushed himself off of the wall, and walked over to the entranceway. He pushed his ticket in side a slot, and the train door unlocked.

"Okay, we can go in now." he said.

Selphie heard, and went running over to the door before Squall or Zell could go through.

"I'm gonna go check out the front." she said, quickly and excitedly. Then, remebering her manners, she turned to Squall

"Tee-hee." she giggled. "Thanks!" and she ran in.

"Lets go check it out, Squall." Zell invited him.

"...Go ahead. I'll be back in a minute." Squall told him, wanting to be left alone.

" 'Kay." Zell said. and he went in with Selphie.

Squall stayed in the entrance way for a while. But it became too quit, even for him, so he decided to head to the front with Zell, and Selphie.

They were both looking out the train window, watching as the train passed through the huge tunnel. 

Zell saw Squall come in and showed him the door to their cabin. He hadn't been inside yet because he was waiting for Squall.

"Yo, check it out!" Zell said. "This is SeeDs private cabin...!"

Zell stepped in and was taken aback by the huge room.

"WHOA!" he yelled, shocked. Then he ran in. "OHHH YEAHHH! AWSOME!" 

Squall rolled his eyes and leaned up against the window. He heard Selphie start talking to herself.

"I love trains." she said. She started singing a children's lullaby. 

"Train, train, Take us away, ...Take us away, far away, ...too the future we will go... " 

Squall thought he had heard it before somewhere, but he couldnt remember.

Selphie stopped singing, but she was still talking to herself, enjoying the train ride. "Such a nice breeze.... Oh!" Selphie noticed Squall standing there. "I'll meet you inside." she said. "I'm gonna hang out here for a bit."

Squall took the hint, and went inside their cabin. Once he was in, he saw Zell sitting on a couch, jumping around.

"Heh-heh. This is soo cool." he said, his baggy shorts bouncing wildly.

"... I'm glad you're so excited." Squall said sarcastically.

Zell stopped and looked up at him.

"They even have magazines!" he said, handing Squall a magazine called 'pet pals'. Squall set the magazine down, and sat on the couch, resting his head on his hands.

"This is pretty damn amazing. It pays to be a member of SeeD!" Zell said.

Squall wondered how he could get so excited over a silly thing like a train cabin.

_"Must be entertained pretty eaisilly..." _thought Squall.

Zell decided to change the subject.

"Squall, y'know anything about Timber?"

_"Finally... He wants to talk about the mission for once...."_ Squall thought.

"Not too much." he said.

"Thought so." Zell said, smugly. "Well, let me fill you in... Timber used to be a country surronded by deep forests. But about 18 years ago, Galbadia invaded."

_"Galbadia...Seems like SeeD has been fighting them a lot lately..."_ Squall thought.

Zell continued.

"Timber fell quite eaisly to Galbadia. So now Timber is under Galbadian oocupation. It's said that there's a whole bunch of resistance factions, big and small." 

Zell ended there.

"... And?" Squall said.

Zell laughed.

"Nope, thats it!"

_"Oh brother..." _thought Squall. _"That was pointless..."_

"...Thank you Mr. know it-all-Zell." Squall said sarcastically.

Zell smiled, ignoring Squall's rude tone.

"Hey, no prob!"

Just then, Selphie came in. She walked in slow and lazily, dragging her feet and hanging her head.

"I'm not... feeling well..." she said, in a sleepy voice. She was not her usual, cheery self.

Squall and Zell looked at her strangely.

"You should get some rest if you're tired." Squall offered

Selphies eyes began drooping, and her voice made her sound only half-awake.

"I'm really sleepy..." she said.

_"Whats going on?"_ Squall thought. _"She was more than fine a minute ago..."_

"You ok?" he asked.

No answer. She simply stood there.

"Huh! Hey...!" Zell sudennly got up and stretched his arms. "What the...!? Somthin's wrong with me...Now I feel sleepy...." Zell's voice trailed off as he yawned.

Selphie walked over and currled up on the couch where Zell had been sitting. Zell moved over, plopped down, and began to dose off.

"Whats going on?" Squall said. Then he felt it.

"Ugh!" 

A strange sensation sudennly came over Squall. He heard ringing in his ears and began to feel incredibly drousy.

"What is this?" he said in a weakening voice. The sensation overtook him, and he fell onto the floor, unconcious.

  


***********************************************************************

End Chap. 7

Well there it is. A suspenseful ending for chapter 7. I've already written a lot of 8 at this point, but I wanted to keep you guys waiting. ^_^

Anyway. Isn't Selphie funny? Her song doesn't even rhyme... but it's so darn catchy...

This chapter was really short, so you impatient readers will be happy, (unless it sucks or somthing...) I don't paticularly appriciate long chapters myself, but its hard not to write them somtimes. (I'm still quaking in fear over how long chapter three was...)

Okay! Next up! Chapter 8 "Dreaming"

***********************************************************************


	9. Chapter 8: Dreaming

Chapter 8.

Dreaming

  


Squall, Zell, and Selphie laid on the floor, asleep.

Or so it seemed. Squall actually felt like he was awake, but he couldn't see anything or feel anything. It was dark, and more than dark. It felt like... nothing.

_"Hmmmm...?" _

Sudennly, Squall found himself running down a path, followed by two men. They were wearing Galbadian uniforms.

_"What the...?"_ Squall tried to say, but he couldn't. He could only hear himself think.

He looked at his surrondings, or at least, he tried to. Squall didn't feel like he could control his body. It felt all wrong.

He stopped running, without trying, and heard the voice of one of the men following him.

"Uhh, Laguna..." the voice said. "Are you sure this is the right way?"

Squall couldn't answer, or 'Laguna' didn't. Either way, they all began running again.

They stopped in the road, Squall looked around, involintarily, and heard another voice. This one was deeper.

"Oh great. Not again..."

_"Where am I...?"_ Squall thought. 

Zell, and Selphie were having a similar expirience. Zell suddenly found himself running down the same forest path. Only Zell was a whole foot and a half taller than he'd been, and heavy set. He was following two men in their late twentys, wearing Galbadian military uniforms. The one in front had long black hair, and a heroic apperance.

Selphie found herself in a man's body, saying things, even though she wasn't trying to speak. And following the same black-haired soldier.

None of them could communicate with the others. They could only speak when whoever they had 'become' spoke. 

_"Is this a dream...?" _Zell thought, as 'he' began running again.

They came across some monsters in the middle of the path. 'Zell' pulled a Huge harpoon from a case on his back. 'Squall' had a macine gun, and 'Selphie' was armed with wrist blades.

They fought, and could feel themsleves moving, attacking and being attacked, but they could not control their movments. They were incredibly confused.

After crossing a small stream, 'Zell' spoke.

"Hey, aren't we here to fight a war? You know, against the almighty Timber army?"

'Selphie' said somthing next.

"Yeah, so why are we wasting time messin' with these animals?"

'Squall' turned to face them. He saw a soldier, a young black man about 6 inches taller than he was, and a, large, heavy-set man similarly dressed. They were Galbadian soldiers alright.

"Well, you see... It's just that uhhh..." 'he' said.

"Don't tell me we're lost again." 'Selphie' said.

'Squall' looked around. They were in the middle of a forest, a thick jungle, And he had no idea which one, or where they were headed.

"Anyway... we're goin' home." 'Squall' said. "Deling city, here we come!"

_"Deling city...? Galbadia's capital...?" _Squall thought.

"W-wait! Laguna!" 'Zell' called.

The group ran until they found an armored military car parked in the middle of the forest. They piled in and began driving.

_"Laguna..." _thought Squall._ "So that's my...HIS name. Whoever he is..."_

"Don't worry Ward!" Laguna said, looking at 'Zell'. 

_"Ward?!" _Zell thought surprised. _"Is that... ME?!"_

"...Wadd'ya think, Kiros?" Ward said to 'Selphie'.

_ "Kiros...what a pretty name...."_ Selphie thought. She had accepted this as a dream so far, though she was still a little confused.

"I think Laguna got homesick...." Kiros teased.

"Alright!" Laguna said, upset with their taunts. "We're just taking a small leave, okay? We've been out here a long time!"

They didn't speak much more the whole drive, leaving Squall, Zell, And Selphie to their thoughts.

_"What is happening to me? What is this...?"_ Squall thought over and over.

_"Am I still in the train cabin, sleeping?" _Selphie wondered, not so sure that this was a dream anymore.

They finally reached Deling city.

"_Wow...Sure is big." _Selphie thought as they drove through the streets.

"_This is too wierd..." _thought Zell. "_This is exactly like Pictures of Deling city that I've seen, and everything fits together... except everything looks older... How could I be dreaming all this up?!"_

Squall's mind was blank. It didn't feel like he was dreaming, but he didn't know what else it could be. 

"Hey!" Ward said. "You can't park in the middle of the street!"

Laguna had done just that.

"Chill man, it's cool." Laguna said.

They got out of the car, and started walking down the street.

"Alright then!" Laguna said excited. "How's about a drink!?"

"We're not just here for the booze are we?" Kiros asked. "We've got a War to fight."

Ward laughed.

"So we'll get smashed, and then we'll CHAARGE!" He yelled.

Zell laughed to himself, despite his confusion.

_"I like this guy..."_ he thought.

Laguna turned too them.

"_Wow..."_ thought Selphie. _"Laguna's cute..."_

Kiros, Ward..." Laguna said. "You two seem to misunderstand. I just want to have a friendly drink with you two."

Ward and Kiros just looked at each other, knowingly, and followed Laguna. Several cars drove up behind the military vehicle they had ridden in, blocking the road.

Laguna and his friends walked around Dollet, making their way to the Galbadia Hotel.

As Laguna walked in, he passed a soldier that he knew.

"Hey, Laguna! Back to see 'her' again?"

"...Whatever." Laguna mumbled.

Squall felt uncomfortable. That was somthing _he_ usually said.

Laguna led Ward and Kiros in the door.

Inside the Galbadia Hotel, there was a small club/bar that was freqented by many soldiers. It was pretty empty during the week, but there were always a few personel on leave for the day or somthing, who stopped in to listen to the club's preformer.

Laguna walked down the stairs to the classy-looking bar area. They didn't fit the club's atmospshere at all, dressed in their blue, bulky uniforms. But there were only other soldiers and waitresses inside anyway.

The club had red carpet and a stage, where the piano was placed. Blue and red curtains hung dramtially from the walls and ceiling. The curtains blocked the light, giving the club a dark, romantic atmosphere.

As they came down, the waitress recognized Laguna immediately.

"Welcome!" she smiled at him. He was here more freqently than any soldier she had seen. 

"Your usual table is ready."

Laguna was about to answer, but his mind sudennly went blank. Squall was still wondering what was happening, and his thoughts seemed to be reflected in Laguna.

"...What?" Laguna said to the waitress.

Kiros looked at Laguna.

"Whats wrong Laguna?" he asked.

"...I dunno." Laguna said, confused at the strange feeling that had sudennly come over him.

The waitress looked at him strangly.

"Would you like to sit down?" She offered again.

_"What is this... " _Squall thought.

"Huh?" Laguna said.

Kiros was a little worried now.

"Laguna... Whats wrong...?" 

"Ahh... I'm not sure..." Laguna said, scratching his head.

"Wait a second..." Ward said. "Is your head buzzing...?"

Laguna looked at him in surprise.

"W-What... you too?"

"Yeah, ever since we were in Timber."

Kiros felt it as well.

"Me too..." he said.

They all looked at each other oddly, wondering what was going on.

_"Does this have somthing to do with me?!" _Zell wondered.

"Hey, we're just tired, that's all." Ward joked. "We'll be fine after a drink or two, or three..." 

_"...I guess."_ Laguna thought. 

_"Oh God... I can hear what he's thinking too ..."_ Squall realized.

"Let's take a load off." Laguna said. He turned too the waitress. "Sorry... Thanks..." 

The waitress led the trio to their usual table in the front corner of the room.

_"Is this a dream?" _Squall wondered.

_ "Laguna's pretty cute!"_ Selphie thought again.

_"W-Whats goin' on!? W-Whats happening to me!?"_ Zell began to panic.

Ward, Kiros, and Laguna all stood at thier seats.

"At ease men." Laguna said, mocking commands.

All three plopped down lazily.

"We're goin' all out tonight right boys!?" Laguna said enthusiastically.

The waitress walked over.

"May I take your order?"

"The usual!" Laguna replied.

"Me too." Kiros said.

"Keep em' coming!" agreed Ward.

The waitress walked off and Ward began teasing Laguna.

"So, Laguna... Julia should be making her apperance soon... you goin' for it tonight?"Kiros chimed in. 

"Yeah go for it!"

The woman that they were speaking of came down the red carpeted stairway. She was wearing a long red evening gown which she tucked carefully under her legs, as she posistioned herself at the piano. Laguna listned to the song which he had heard her play countless times before. He loved hearing it. He loved hearing all of Julia's songs.

Julia Heartilly was the Hotel's preformer, and she played the piano marvelously. She had become quite popualr in Dollet and had develpoed a large fan-following. Laguna had chatted with her a few times before, and he had developed an enormous crush on her. Ward and Kiros always tried to get him to talk with her when they came to the hotel. But now, because of his feelings, Laguna always got nervous and clammed up.

"What-ever man!" Laguna replied to his friends, nervously. "Can't you see she's working?"

"Don't go back on your word..." Kiros said. 

Laguna had promised to ask Julia out, or at least say 'hi' to her, the next time he saw her. Now was his chance.

"Com'on, go wave to her." Kiros encouraged.

"Give me a break..." Laguna pleaded.

Ward Zabac and Kiros Seagill eyed each other knowingly. They knew Laguna too well to belive that he wouldn't do it.

"So you say, but we know you'll do it." Ward said smugly.

Laguna finally gathered up his courage, and decided to go for it.

_ "If for nothing else, then for them to leave me alone!"_ he thought.

_"I'll agree with that..."_ Squall thought. Listening to Laguna was bad enough for him. He didn't want to feel like _he_ was being harrassed as well.

With out a word, Laguna got up and walked over to the stage.

Julia was such a beautiful person, both in her looks and her personality, Laguna knew from when he had talked to her. Before, he could speak with her freely, but now he was incredibly nervous on front of this beautiful woman. 

She had dark raven hair, and fair skin. Laguna couldn't imagine someone more lovely.

As Squall looked at her through Laguna's eyes, she reminded him of someone. But then Laguna began thinking to himself. 

_"Ah... to be this close to Julia..."_ he thought.

Squall listened.

_"Is this guy serious...?"_

Laguna looked at Julia, and sundenly noticed that she was staring back at him. He blushed a little as he felt her eyes on him, but she was smiling and he managed to grin back at her. Then, his worst fear suddenly came true.

_"Uh-oh..." _he thought. _"My leg's cramping up! Argh...!" _He waved to Julia, wincing, and dragged his crammped leg back to his seat.

_"..Sad.." _thought Squall.

Laguna's leg always cramped when he became nervous.

"Mission succesful!" Ward laughed,

"Good work, Laguna." Kiros said. "Here have a seat." 

Laguna sat down, nursing his aching leg.

"I didn't think you'd actually do it. Our popularity ratings gone up a point." Ward nudged Laguna.

"Yeah, but you cut a pretty pitiful figure up there." Kiros laughed. "I'd say you're about a negative 3 on the manliness scale."

Laguna was upset enough at himself.

"Say what you want!" he retorted. Then he sighed. 

"...Julia sure is pretty..." he mumbled.

The music from the piano stopped. Kiros sudennly looked over Laguna's shoulder and saw someone walking towards them.

"Aaa..." he began. He nudged Ward. 

"Hunhhh...?" 

Then Ward saw who Kiros was looking at.

Laguna was oblivious, just looking down at his drink. 

"Laguna, we're taking off." Kiros said quickly. He and Ward started to move away from their seats.

"Hey! What's the rush?" Laguna jumped up and yelled.

Ward looked over at him as they walked away.

"It's on us tonight." He said. "Relax and stay a while, Laguna." He winked at him, pointed behind Laguna, and walked off.

  


***------------------------------PLACE MARKER---------------------***

**(Sick of reading right now? Take a break, and find your spot right here when you come back to the story!)**

Sudennly, Laguna heard a soft, beautiful voice talking behind him.

"May I?" the voice asked. It was Julia. 

"Aaaaa..." Laguna got up and spoke nervously. He moved over.

"Did I interupt anything?" she asked politly.

"N-N-N-Not at all." Laguna stammered. "P-Please, s-sit down."

_"Oh man, oh man, it's really HER! What do I do!? Kiros? Ward? HELP! What do I say!?... But man, she is pretty..." _Laguna's thoughts raced quickly.

_ "What's this guy thinking... ?" _Squall was not impressed with Laguna at all. He couldn't keep up with this soldiers' sparatic thoughts.

Julia sat down next to Laguna. 

"You ok now?" she asked.

"Kind of..." Laguna began, calming down a little.

"How's your leg?"

L-Leg? Oh, this!?" Laguna said. "Y-Yeah, it's fine."

She looked at him smileing.

"Happens all the time when I get nervous..." 

Laguna coughed.

Julia continued looking at him.

"Were you nervous?" she asked.

Laguna was getting more comfortable. As nervous as he was, Julia was very encourageing. It helped him not to stutter around so much.

"Oh, yeah. I'm still kinda..." 

Julia didn't want him to feel uncomfortable.

"You can relax." she said. Her voice was very reassuring. "You don't have to get nervous around me."

Laguna suddenly felt asshamed.

"Oh, sorry." he apologized.

"Say..." Julia began. Then she leaned over and whispered in his ear. 

"(Would you like to talk somewhere private? I have a room here...)"

Laguna hadn't noticed that everyone in the room was staring at the two.

"I-In your room!" he said, in shock.

"Well..." Julia began looking around. "(It's pretty hard to talk freely here. Everyone's listening in.)"

Laguna looked up. All the waitresses and the other soldiers were watching them.

"If you'd like to, please come by." Julia pleaded. "I've been wanting to talk to you."

Laguna was shaking nervously, and he found it hard to respond. Julia looked at him.

"You don't want too?" 

Her voice sounded sad.

Laguna gathered himself quickly at this.

"Of course I do!" he said, reassuring her.

"Then I'll go ahead and wait for you. Ask for my room at the front desk, ok?"

Julia got up, smiled at Laguna and walked to her room.

Laguna was incredibly nervous now.

_"Am I dreaming?"_ he thought.

Squall was getting worried.

_"This is a dream... this is a dream..."_ He tried to convince himself.

_"No, this can't be a dream!"_ Laguna continued, with more confidence.

_"This is too weird to be a dream...." _Squall thought.

"_Julia...? want to talk to me...?" _

_"He talks to himself to much..."_

_"And just the two of us!" _Laguna was getting a lttle too excited._ "Whoa... Get it together Laguna..." _he thought.

_"...Whatever."_ Squall said to himself.

_"I always screw up by talking about myself too much. It's always been like that." _Laguna had to admit this, even to himself. 

_"But not tonight! I'm all ears for Julia!"_ Laguna thought. _"Time to use my manly charm, and help Julia with her problems... if she has any thing she needs help with, I mean... Oh man, I don't know what I'm gonna do...! ...Ok, just calm down, Laguna. You'll be fine."_

Laguna got up and headed to the stairs, but he noticed Kiros and Ward still in the club.

_"Those jerks... They knew that she was coming over to talk to me..." _Laguna thought. 

Ward spoke to him.

"Can you really carry on a conversation with Julia? Make sure the conversations sophisticated."

Laguna just laughed.

"No worries, man! Thats like, my specialty." he tried to sound cool.

Kiros chimed in.

"One wouldn't say you converse, though... All you do is yap-yap-yap and never listen."

Laguna ignored him and continued walking. He also tried to ignore the dirty glances that the other soldiers in the bar were giving him. Julia was pretty popular.

Laguna walked up the the front desk. The receptionest was freindly.

"Welcome! Checking in?" she asked. 

_"Ok... 'Which room is Julia's', thats all you gotta say."_

But Laguna got nervous again.

"Wh-Wh-Whi-..." he stuttered.

_"Is he really going?" _Squall thought.

"...Oh. Mr. Laguna Loire? I've been expecting you." the receptionest said. "Let me show you to Ms. Julias room."

Laguna sighed a breath of relife.

_ "Here we go..."_he thought, anxiously.

***********************************************************************

In Julia's room, Laguna was standing, nervously speaking with her.

"Thanks for coming." Julia smiled at him.

"No... Not at all, uh... Thank you for inviting me." Laguna replied.

"Have a seat." she invited, noticing how much he was shaking.

Laguna walked over to the foot of the bed, and sat down.

_"Aaa! What am I doing!?"_ Laguna panicked. _"I don't want her to think that I'm here for... THAT!" _He got up quickly and walked over to a chair in the far side of the room. Then he got up again and walked over to Julia.

_"God! I'm so nervous...!"_

Julia laughed, knowingly. Her bubbly voice putting Laguna into a trance.

"Going so soon? We haven't even talked yet." she joked.

"No, its not that." Laguna explained. "It's just that I'm a big fan of your's, so I'm really kinda nervous, y'know?"

"So that's why you come to hear me play so often." Julia said.

_"She noticed me? All those times I've been here...?! She knows how much I come here just to listen to her play..."_

"You... you saw me?" Laguna sttuered. He began pacing about the room frantically.

"You were always smileing while listening, right?" Now even Julia sounded a bit nervous.

"You have beautiful eyes." she said softly. "Though they look a bit scared now."

Laguna just looked at her, wide eyed, more nervous than he could have ever imagined.

"Don't worry." she laughed. "I'm not going to pluck' em and eat'em. I just want to talk, gazing into those eyes." She turned around, slightly embarressed.

"Would you like a drink? Wine perhaps?" she asked quickly.

"I must be dreamin'..." Laguna said aloud.

Laguna and Julia stayed in her room for hours, just talking. Laguna soon became comfortable talking with her, but he started rambling.

"...Yeah, I don't like fightin' too much, but you get to travel. y'know? Seeing new places n' stuff." he said.

"And it's fun, 'cause Kiros and Ward are always with me... Hey, we should all go out drinkin' sometime! Whaddya say?" Laguna didn't mean to sound so crude, but the alcohol had losened his tounge slightly.

"And...uh... What was I talkin' about? Oh yeah. So I want to quit the army and become a journalist! So I can tell people 'bout all the things I've seen on my travels."

Squall had to listen to the whole conversation.

_"He's already loosened up..."_ Squall thought.

Julia was simply sitting there, patiently. She didn't mind that Laguna was talking so much. In fact, she kind of enjoyed it. It was different, and refreshing somehow, to talk with someone who was so enthusiastic, esspesially during the war.

"So, like, the other day, one of my articles made the reader's column. Pretty cool huh?" He stopped to catch his breath.

"Yeah, that was way cool..."

Julia nodded her head and smiled.

"I'm happy for you." she said softly.

They continued like that for even longer. Laguna talking and Julia sitting there, happily listening to him. After a while, however, Laguna finally caught himself. 

"Yikes!" he realized. "I'm talkin' too much again." 

He was embarressed now. He wanted to come up here and learn more about Julia, but he had wasted time chatting about himself.

"Uhh...Tell me about yourself." he asked Julia. "Like... your dreams for the future."

Julia didn't like to talk about herself too much. She was quiet by nature. But this man had opened up to her so much, how could she not reciprocate? She walked over to the window and looked outside, longingly.

"I... I want to sing. Not just play the piano, but sing too."

"Oh, I'd really love to hear it." Laguna encouraged her.

"But I can't." she said. "I'm no good at writing lyrics..."

"Hmmm... That must be tough." he said sympathetically.

Julia looked over at him, smileing. 

"But," she began. "thanks to you, I think I can come up with something."

Laguna was surprised. 

"Thanks to me...?" He said.

"Yes..." 

She began singing quietly.

"The many faces you've shown me, times when you were hurt, worried, or felt pain deep inside you... your smile, your face, your eyes..."

Julia walked closer to Laguna, resting her hand on his shoulder.

"You've shown me something... I think I can come up with a song."

"Wow! I must be dreamin'..." Laguna said nervously.

Julia lifted his hand and pinched it softly.

"It's not a dream, is it?" she whispered as she leaned her lips over to his cheek. 

Laguna's heart started beating faster and faster.

_"...This isn't a dream... This is as real as it gets..." _he thought happily.

Sudennly, there was a loud knock on the door. It was Kiros.

"Laguna! New orders! Meet by the presidential residence, on the double!"

Julia looked at him, saddened.

"Can we meet again?" she asked.

"Of course!" Laguna smiled at her. "I have to come hear you sing!"

Julia kissed his cheek quickly and and they smiled at each other.

_"...I will come back... I'll always come back here, for her..."_ Laguna thought.

He left her room, still smileing at her, and shut the door.

  


***********************************************************************

End chap 8.

Wow! Laguna is such a geek! But a lucky one!

(Julia... Stops my heart almost as much as Rinoa... *Sigh* I'm such a sucker for romance...)

I hope I described this scene good enough. I'm really trying to do my best, esspessilly on these type of chapters. y'know, with the love n' stuff. The warm fuzzy feelings and all that...

(Jeez... I really am a sap... ^_^)

This chapter is gonna be one of the most important in the story, as you will later see. 

Anywayz, I hope some more people who haven't played the game are reading this by now. (If you are one of those people, go buy the game. Now.) But of course, I hope you FF8 vet's are enjoying this too. My aim is to please. If you think I can do better on some parts, let me know!

R+R!

So, I tried incorporating some of the lyrics to a 'certain song' in this chapter. I hope that sounded good. (I'm not gonna say the name, 'cuz it comes into play much later in the story... Besides, you should already know it... It's, like, the title of half of the fanfics on this site, anyway.)

Y'know, I never realized how many times that song is played in the game until just now. It has so many variations that I never noticed before. There's like three different variations during the 'Laguna/Julia' part, and another two or so during Rinoa's scenes. (Even during the ballroom FMV, the music, 'Waltz for the Moon', is just another variation of that song!) 

So anyway, another chapter completed. 

The lovey dovey crap is the most fun to write about. It gives me those warm squishy feelings inside... or maybe that's just gas...(Sorry... I had to say somthing to lighten the mood... I was getin' all emotional n' stuff writing this chapter. *sniff*sniff* ^-^())

Next up! chapter 9. The Forest owls.

It's another good one!... I hope. But hey its got Rinoa in it, so its gotta be worth somthin', even if it's crap! But be warned...It's long. (I'm talkin' chap. 3 type hugness here... possibly bigger!)

***********************************************************************


	10. Chapter 9: The 'Forest Owls'

**Chapter 9.**

**'The Forest Owls'**

"Next stop. Timber... I repeat. Timber..."

Squall could hear the announcment over the trains P.A. system. He was still laying on the floor, half-asleep. He blinked, moaned, and got up.

He stumbled a little bit, but he got his bearings and balenced himself. He saw two figures standing before him.

"Were we... all asleep?" he asked, looking at Zell and Selphie.

Zell, and Selphie were standing there, both trying to shake away the strange expirience they had.

"Maybe someone released some sleeping gas?" Zell offered. "There's lots of people who resent SeeD."

_"...Maybe. Better be careful."_ Squall thought.

Zell's comment worried Selphie.. 

"Am I missing anything? Anyone hurt?"

They all looked around. Squall and Selphie still had thier weapons, Squall counted their Gil, and no one seemed to be injured.

"I don't think so." Squall said. 

Selphie sighed heavily.

"What a relife!" She exclaimed. Then she though about the odd 'dream'. 

_"That was soo weird..."_ she thought. _"But it was neat!"_

"Well, everything's cool with me!" Selphie said, getting back to her old, optomistic attitude. "Tee-hee! I had such a nice dream!" 

_"...I had a dream too."_ Squall thought. _"It wasn't nice though. I dreamt I was a moron."_

"We will be arriving in Timber shortly. For those getting off, please be sure you have all your belongings." the train annoucer came in again.

Selphie continued explianing her dream.

"But seriously, Sir Laguna was sooo cool!"

Zell and Squall looked silently at Selphie, as if they had just seen a ghost.

"Hey! There was a Laguna in my dream too! He's a Galbadian soldier. Right?!" Zell finally blurted out.

Squall looked over at Zell.

"Laguna, Kiros, and Ward..." he said slowly.

"Huh!?" Zell exclaimed. "Thats it!"

"Thats what...?" Squall said, still confused.

_"How could we have all had the same dream?" _he thought

"There's no way we can understand this..." Selphie chimed in nervously. "Let's just concentrate on our first mission!"

_"...I guess you're right."_ Squall thought.

"We'll put this inncident on hold. I'll report it to the headmaster once we get back to Garden."

Zell and Selphie nodded in agreement. They were too scared to talk about this now anyway, so Zell changed the subject.

"We should be there soon, eh?" he said. "Here we go... psyche yourself up baby!" Zell left the room to practice some sparing in the hall.

Selphie got up and lost her balence slightly.

"Whew...still sleepy." she said, and she left the room as well.

Squall just stood there, gazing. Had somone put sleeping gas in the room? He didn't think so. And they had all dreamt the same thing besides. What did it mean?

He walked out of the room, trying to forget the odd feeling.

*********************************************************************** 

Their train came into Timber station. Squall, Zell, and Selphie dismounted, and the train pulled away quickly.

As they began walking down the steps, they were approached by a teenager wearing a yellow snow-vest and a beanie. 

"Oh, the forests of Timber sure have changed!" he said.

_ "What...? Oh! Right. The password." _Squall rememberd.

"But the owls are still around!" Selphie said excitedly. 

Squall glared at her.

_"Whatever... fine." _

The teenager smiled and addressed Squall respectfully.

"Welcome to Timber, sir. Come with me, sir."

They followed him to Timbers other railline, just across from the one they had dismounted.

"Please, please, this way, sir!"

A dirty-looking, old locomotive pulled up to the train stop. It had graffiti all over it, and it was rusty. The teenager led them in, and the dirty-looking train started moving again. This was 'The Forest Owl's' mobile base.

Once inside, another teenager greeted the group.

"So, you guys are SeeDs?" he asked. He was slightly taller than the other, and had dark, short hair.

Squall introduced the team.

"I'm the squad leader, Squall. This is Zell and Selphie." 

"Nice to meet ya." The teenager extended his hand to shake. "I'm the leader of the 'Forest owls'. Name's Zone." 

Squall just nodded. Zone went over to Selphie and shook her hand wildly. Zell rubbed his hand on his pant leg and extended it to shake, but Zone ignored him. 

Squall was starting to get impatient.

"So, let's get on with it. What do we do?"

"Just take it easy." Zone said."Here, let me introduce you first." 

Zell put his hand down, dissapointed, and began practicing some fighting moves.

"Looks like you already met Watts." Zone said, pointing at the young man that had met them at the train stop. "I guess it's just our princess then."

_"'Princess'... huh?!" _Squall thought. 

Watts looked at Zone nervously. 

"uhh... It's the princess' naptime, sir."

Zone frowned with displeasure.

Ahh..man..." he said. 

Zone squatted on the floor, trying to think. Then he looked up at Squall

"Hey Squall, sorry..., but could you go get the princess? She's in the last room, up those stairs."

Squall rolled his eyes at this.

_"This has got to be some kind of joke..."_ Squall thought, indignantly.

"Were we hired to run errands?" he asked angrily. 

No response.

"Well?"

Zone backed away in fear.

"A-Are you angry?" he stammered.

Squall sighed.

_"We're not gophers... We're SeeD...Special forces." _he thought. 

"This is the last time for this kinda thing." Squall said impatiently.

Zone became nervous, and started to pretended that his stomach hurt.

"Owowouccchhh." he yelled. "My ...stomach..."

"Way to go, Squall!" Selphie cheered. "You tell'm! They can't treat us that way!" She went to look out the train window. It was difficult to see out of because it had been partially painted over.

Zell whispered somthing to Squall.

"These guys don't seem to have it together..." he said.

Squall nodded in agreement, but since neither Zone nor Watts seemed capable of waking the 'princess', Squall went ahead.

Squall passed the first room. He glanced inside and their were some other members of 'The Forest Owls', running the train. He eventually found his way to the back. At the end of the hall, there was a large, pink room. It was the train's only bedroom. He walked in, and saw a young girl sleeping, curled up on the fold-out bed.

The train stopped sudenly, making a loud noise, and woke the girl from her sleep. She sat up on her bed and blinked as she saw the tall, blue eyed young man standing at her door.

Squall looked at her. She was wearing a blue, cordaroy, sleveless vest with two angel wings enbroidered on the back, and a short, button-up, jean skirt. The wide tail of the vest came down to her ankles, looking alomost like a cape. Underneath it all, she had on a black top and shorts which came down half-way on her theighs.

Even though she was dressed more causually now, Squall recognized her immediatly. The raven hair. The beatiful brown eyes. It was the girl he had danced with at the party, just last night.

_"It seems like it was such a long time ago..." _Squall thought.

The girl looked at Squall, and spoke excitedly.

"Hey...You're...! You know, from the party..." She was a little embarressed to not have remebered his name. "So..." she started again. "Does that mean... You're a SeeD!?" she asked. She folded her arms across her knees, and rocked back and forth with excitment.

Squall nodded and walked closer. 

"I'm Squall, the squad leader. There's two others with me." he explianed.

The girls eyes widened and she yelled with gladness. She jumped off of her bed, ran up to Squall, and swung herslf around, holding onto his neck. He twisted around as she grabbed him.

"YEESSSS!!! SeeD is here!" 

Squall was surprised. He grabbed her hands, and removed them from his collar.

"Take it easy." he said.

The girl giggled.

"It's just that, I'm so happy!" she explianed "I've been sending requests to Garden forever, but nothing..." She sounded a little sad, but her tone changed quickly.

"I'm so glad I spoke to Cid directly!" she said.

"Oh..." Squall said, trying not to sound dissapointed. "So you were looking for the headmaster at the party?"

The girl gestured and shook her head 'no'.

"You know Seifer?" she asked.

"...Yeah." Squall said folding his arms, and looking away.

_"How could I not know him..." _he thought sarcastically.

"Well, he's the one who introduced me to Cid... Cid is such a nice man." she said. "I really didn't think SeeD would come out to help a measly little group like us. But after explaining our situation to him, Cid gave the go ahead right away!"

The girl laughed with happiness.

"Now that you guys are here, we'll be able to carry out all kinds of plans!"

_ "...Okay. Fine, I guess."_ Squall thought. She was getting too excited for his tastes.

"Well, I'm goin' back to the others." he said.

"Ok! Lets go!" she replied.

_"Wait... Isn't she gonna tell me what her name is?"_ Squall thought. _"I'm not gonna call her 'princess'..."_

She started walking, but stopped at the doorway. 

"Umm, Squall. Is 'he' here?" She asked, hopeful.

_"'He'?" _Squall thought, looking confused.

"Seifer." she said plainly.

Squall paused a moment. Were Seifer and this girl an, 'item'?

"... No, he's not a SeeD."

"...Oh." the girl said, dissapointed.

She began walking out of the room again, but she ran back remebering what she had wanted to tell Squall at the party.

_"I should've told him my name in the first place..."_ she thought.

"Oh, yeah, my name's Rinoa. Very pleased to meet you, Squall." 

She shook his hand, pretending to be professional. Then she bent down, resting her hands on her knees and looked up at Squall.

"SeeD members dance quite well, don't they?" she asked playfully.

Squall smiled a little, to his surprise.

"Approach your target inconspicuosly at a dance party..." he said. "There may be missions which require this sort of subterfuge. It's expected of SeeD to learn various skills quickly."

"Ohhh... So it's work related." she sounded dissapointed."That's too bad..."

Squall was silent. He didn't mean for it to sound like that. 

_"...I didn't even know how to dance before that..." _he excused. _"It's just expected of SeeD to pick up on certain skills quickly though..." _He didn't know why he cared so much. It made him uncomfortable to feel that way. 

_"...Whatever." _he thought.

A dog sudennly walked in and rested by Rinoa's feet. It was a little brown collie. The dog wined a little.

_ "A dog...? Seifer would hate that..." _Squall thought, still wondering if 'they' were dating. He remebered how much Seifer hated animals.

"Here, let me introduce you." Rinoa said, noticing her pet. "This is my partner, Angelo." She pointed at her collie-dog. 

"Angelo is really smart!" she said. "He can do all sorts of tricks!"

_"..Whatever."_ Squall thought.

Rinoa saw him roll his eyes.

"Really! He can! He's even trained to help me fight!" Rinoa insisted. She smiled knowingly at Squall. Then she turned to Angelo.

"I have some important work to do now. Be good Angelo." She looked at Squall. "Ok, I'll meet you there." she said, and then she ran off.

Angelo walked over to the rug in the middle of the room and laid down to sleep. Squall followed Rinoa to the front of the train.

_ "So... 'Rinoa' huh? She's... interesting..." _Squall thought to himself. She was too excitable for Squall's tastes, but she interested him somehow. Squall was used to discipline and procedure, in just about every aspect of his life. Rinoa seemed focused on anything-but. Even Selphie, with her spunky, carefree attitude, seemed to have more sense of responsibility than Rinoa.

_"But she doesn't seem entirely immature or anything..." _Squall thought. _"Just kind of ... lively..."_

Squall shook the thoughts from his head. Now he needed to concentrate on the mission. They were supporting a rebel faction in Timber, going up against Galbadia. Squall wanted to hear what the factions plans were for fighting such an aggresive, and powerful, opponent.

_"SeeD has disrupted a lot of Galbadia's efforts to expand their teritory..." _Squall thought. _"They might start fighting Garden if we become too much of a threat..."_

__Galbadia, however, seemed content to let Garden conduct buisness as usual for the time being, without making direct attacks on the Gardens. Galbadia had a Garden close by, in fact. That proved to go far in keeping relations resonably peaceful between SeeD and Galbadia.

Squall walked down the hall. Rinoa was sitting down on the steps waiting for him.

He walked passed her and introduced the rest of the squad.

"This is Zell." he began. "... And Selphie." 

Selphie was still staring out the train window. She turned around when she heard her name.

Rinoa looked at them both and smiled happily.

"Hi everybody!" she said.

Rinoa turned around and walked into the trains 'meeting room'.

"This way."

Zone, Watts, Zell, Selphie and Squall all followed her into the room.

***--------------------------PLACE MARKER---------------------***

**(Sick of reading right now? Take a break, and find your spot right here when you come back to the story!)**

"Just stand anywhere you want." Zone said, once everyone was inside. "This is a full-scale operation." He began. "Our resistance, 'The Forest Owls', will be forever known in the pages of Timber's independence!" Zone stopped and smirked a little.

"Exciting, huh?"

The SeeD members rolled their eyes.

_"I wish he'd hurry..."_ Squall thought.

"It all started when we got a hold of top-secret info from Galbadia." Zone said.

Watts interuppted.

"I got the info, sir!"

"There's a VIP from Galbadia coming to Timber." Zone started again.

"Super V-I-P!!!" Watts said excitedly.

"The guy's name is Vinzer Deling! Our archenemy, and the President of Galbadia."

"Vinzer Deling is a scoundrel!!!" Watts said angrily. "He's a dictator, not a president. Not even popular in Galbadia, sir!"

Rinoa spoke up now.

"President Deling is taking a private train from the Galbadian capital."

Zone started speaking again.

"Our plan is to..."

"Blow it to smithereens with a rocket launcher!?" Selphie innterupted, sarcastically.

Zone looked nervous at this, not realizing she was joking.

_"Boy... These SeeDs don't mess around...!" _he thought.

"Ahh... not quite."

Zell was getting really impatient.

"So just get to the point! Just tell us what to do!" he yelled.

"Shall we begin?" Rinoa asked, pointing to the display in the center of the room.

There was a large table with model trains carefully placed on it. It was a minerature of a section of Timber's rail line.

"First, I'll go over the model." Rinoa began. "The yellow train in the top right is our base. We're riding in that right now. Right next to it is the 'dummy car'. We made it to look just like the president's car."

She now pointed at the models lower track.

"Their train has three cars. First, there's the locomotive, and then the first escourt car. The red car near the back is the presidents car. Deling should be inside... And the last car is the second escourt. Once we get on this one, we begin the operation."

She stopped and looked up at the group. 

"Our ultimate goal is to seize the president in his car using our base. This means we'll have to switch our dummy car with the presidents real car. "

Rinoa flipped a switch and the model trains started moving.

"We'll use the two switch points leading up to Timber to carry out this operation. Now I'll explian the procedure in seven steps." She said. "We'll get on the roof of the second escourt, by jumping from the dummy car."

Squall was unimpressed with the plan so far, but Rinoa took it more seriously than he had anticipated.

_"... Maybe I was wrong about her..."_ He thought. _"Or maybe this is just important to them..."_

Watts interupted.

"The second escourt is equiped with sensors, sir."

Rinoa nodded.

"A high tech officer is onboard. I'll talk about the sensors in a minute." She turned back to the model. "We can move across the roof of the presidents car without worrying too much."

"Deling hates the company of his guards and being surronded by sensors, So he keeps them away from his car." Zone said. 

Rinoa continued.

"We'll have to uncouple the first escourt before the first switch point. If we don't..."

"BOOM! Game over, right?" Selphie guessed.

Rinoa gulped.

"...Yeah. So we'll have to move fast. After the car is uncoupled, we'll have the dummy, and our base move in. At that point, our train and their train will be linked and moving together."

The model trains moved in the exact way Rinoa described the process. The model representing the base and dummy car moved in between the Galbadian cars. The trains continued moving until they reached another switch point.

"Right here is the last uncoupling." Rinoa said. "The process will be similar to the first one. If all goes well, we should be able to escape with the president's car.After that, we'll return to our base and prepare to confront Deling..." Rinoa stopped to catch her breath.

"We have exactly five minutes to complete the seven procedures. If we fail, our train will collide with theirs at the switch point and it'll be all over. Don't forget that." she warned, but her tone of voice made it sound unimportant.

"Five minutes?" Zell questioned. "You sure that's enough?"

Zone stepped in.

"According to the simulation we ran, it should take only three minutes to complete the operation. Piece of cake for SeeDs, right?"

"Of course!" Selphie said confidently. "Too easy!"

Squall was quiet. He didn't know if he trusted their simulation. They seemed to be pretty 'hap-hazard' with thier, 'procedures'.

"Ok, now. Lets tell them about how to avoid the sensors on the second escourt.... Go ahead Watts." Rinoa invited.

"The guards have a sound sensor, and a temperature sensor, sir." Watts began. "Any sound will trigger the sound sensor, so move across them roof very quietly, sir! But remeber, the temperature sensor will go off if you remian stationary, sir!"

Watts spoke quckly, as he tried to explian the sensors.

"They check the sensors at the windows in the center of the train, thats the only area that the Sensors read."

"So... exactly how do you avoid them?" Zell asked.

"Ummm... basically run or stop depending on which guard checking the sensors."

_ "That sounds simple enough..." _Zell thought._ "...Maybe too simple..."_

"Okay. Now lets talk about how to uncouple the escourt cars." Rinoa said.

"Question...!" Selphie interupted. "How can you uncouple the cars from a moving train?"

"Umm... we can't uncouple the cars directly." Rinoa began. 

"Instead, we'll have to tamper with the control system that manages the coupling." Zone said. "If we temporarily disable the circuit for the connection, the car will uncouple automatically. To disable it, we have to enter several codes."

"And we have the codes! Rinoa has them, sir!" Watts butted in.

"I'll be in charge of relaying the codes to Squall." Rinoa said. "Squall, you'll slide down on the side of the train using a cable and enter the codes into the system. Each code is made up of numbers between 1-4, and has four digits. But the keypad doesnt use regular number symbols. It has a secret code that only the Galbadian guards should know... But we have the tranlation. So entering the codes won't be a problem."

She handed Squall the paper with the number translations. each number was represented by a smalll symbol. He memorized it quickly.

"You'll have about 5 seconds to enter each code." Rinoa said. "Otherwise the codes will change, and the past entries will become invalid. So, like we said. we have to enter all the codes to disable the connections. After we uncouple the cars, we'll wait for the others to operate the rail switch."

Rinoa looked around. No one said anyhting.

"Umm... Thats all."

Selphie finally spoke up.

"By the way... this models nice, but the president's car looks kinda shabby.... Why is that?"

"Yeah, Rinoa made it" Watts answered. "Thats why. We bought everything else at the gift store." 

"Oh... I thought some kid made it." Zell replied, looking closely at the model. "The paint job sucks too." 

Squall was ignoring the conversation, until he heard Zell. He wondered why Zell was being so judgmental, but then he looked at the model.

_ "Yeah... It kind of does."_ he thought.

"Oh, shut up! I made it look that way on purpose!" Rinoa yelled. "It represents my hatered twoards Deling."

Squall laughed a little to himself.

_"I can't picture her hating anyone..."_

"Hatered, eh...?" Zell said. "Yeah... right."

"Its one of the... ugliest things I've ever seen in my life. You must really hate him." Selphie joked.

Squall stayed quiet.

"Are you guys finished!? Enough about the model!" Rinoa yelled. "Can we get on with it now!?"

Nobody spoke. 

"Let's decide who's going then..." Rinoa said.

Watts backed away nervously. 

"Gathering information is my speacilty, sir!" he said quickly, leaving the room.

Zone bent down and held his stomach, as if he was sick.

"OuuuucHHHH.... My stomach!" he yelled.

Rinoa put her hands on her hips, and shot a mean glance at Zone. Sudennly, the train started moving again.

"We're moving... " Rinoa noticed. "I'll go take a look." She started walking away. "Talk to Watts when you're ready!" she said.

Squall looked around the room, he noticed some old articles of 'Anarcist monthly' hanging on the bullitin board. They were all articles about Vinzer Deling's rise to power.

  


***--------------------------PLACE MARKER BONUS!---------------------***

**(Sick of reading right now? Take a break, and find your spot right here when you come back to the story! But wait...what's this...? A bonus? Oh I guess that means I have to put something here, huh? Okay.)**

**If you didn't feel like reading all of the bulletins inside the 'Forest Owl's' *ahem* strategy room, while playing FF8, I have all the articles written down here for your... uh... convinence..., or something.**

***********************************************************************

**Anarcist monthly. First issue **

Galbadia's dictator, President Vinzer Deling Speacial!

How does he stay in power!? We reaveal his darkest secrets!!!

**Anarcist Monthly. Second issue.**

President Deling became the president after the 2nd sorreress war ended. To gain support quickly, he carried out the invasion of Timber. It was only a ploy to decorate an already corrupt man's immoral career... Our land, Timber, was brutally destroyed. Here began Vinzer deling's road to dictatorship...

**Anarcist monthly. Third issue.**

To imprison anti-government sympathizers, the D-discrit prison was bulit in the desert south of Deling city. Millions were spent to bulid the facility. The threat of being sent to the prison intensified Deling's unpopularity. The prison began imprisoning Galbadian anti-government sympathizers just as they did in Timber. Moreover, the leaders of the resistence movements faced the threat of having family members imprisoned as well. Around this time. Deling began surronding himself with only loyalists, which turned him into an even more fierce dictator.

**Anarcist monthly. Final issue.**

With the exception of Esthar, the Galbadian Military posseses the worlds only long-range missiles. Although never used in combat, their exsistence has become a world wide threat. It is said that the missiles have the ability to hit any target with astonding accuracy even without using radio signals.Will the time come for the president to push the button!? When the time comes, Ti...~~~~~ (The last part is blurred...)

***********************************************************************

**Thats it! Darn those Galbadian pigs! Who do they think they are? Doesn't Vinzer Deling just make you want to spit?**

** Oh well.... back to the story.**

***********************************************************************

_"I hope these guys know what they're doing..."_ Squall thought

"Are you two ready?" he turned to Zell and Selphie.

"Yeah, baby!" Zell said 

"Uh-huh!" Selphie complied.

Squall led the squad out of the room. They found Watts waiting for them.

"Have you seen the dummy president sir?" he asked. "It's a piece of art! We made it to go inside the 'dummy' car. No one will be able to tell the difference!" 

Squall was disinterested, but Watts kept on talking.

"It has a newspaper in front of his face, and he's programmed to speak whenever someone walks close to him. No soldier will dare come near him after what we programmed him to say, sir!"

Watts talked more seriously now. 

"I know the kidnapping plan must be tough, but best of luck to you, sir! Are you ready to begin?"

Squall looked back at Zell and Selphie. They nodded.

"Yeah....We're ready."

***********************************************************************

"Squall over here!" Rinoa yelled.

Squall could just barely hear her over the roar of the train. They were walking across the top of their dummy car, and they were closing in on the President's train.

"We'll catch up with the second escourt soon! Lets get ready!" Rinoa said when they had reached her.

"This is the presidents car. After we get across, we'll proceed with the first uncoupleing.

They pulled up to the president's escourt car, and Rinoa jumpoed across. Squall, Zell, and Selphie followed her.

***********************************************************************

Inside the Presidents car, a Soldier was reporting to Vinzer Deling.

"Sir! Everything is in order sir!"

"You again?... That's 27 times now. How many more times do you plan to disturb me with that meaningless report?" The President spoke harshly.

"Sir, I'm sorry sir. But it is my duty, sir."

"Its hard to belive that anyone would put up with this nonsense." The President said impatiently. "I guess its none of my buisness. Dissmissed."

"Sir! Yes sir!" The soldier was confused by the President's comments. He turned around and thought to himself.

_"There goes next month's paycheck. How am I gonna propose to her now? I'm gonna have to put it off again..."_

_***********************************************************************_

__Outside, Rinoa and the Squad of SeeD members were positioned on the close end of the first escourt.

__"This is the first escourt. We're gonna uncouple this first!" Rinoa yelled. "Selphie and Zell, you keep an eye on the guards!"

She turned to Squall and handed him a cable attachment. 

"Okay, Squall. You're going to slide down the side of the train, and input the correct codes. Three total. You ready?" 

Squall nodded, and swung down the side of the train to the keypad.

"The first code is... 4133!" Rinoa yelled.

Squall input the code quickly, and looked up.

"Next code, is... 2213!"

Squall input the second code. The keypad beeped, accepting the commands.

"Squall! The Guard!" Zell yelled. "He's coming!"

Squall pulled himself up the side of the train quickly and remained still. The guard left, and Squall went down again.

"Last code! It's ... 4441!" Rinoa said.

Squall input the code, and the keypad beeped loudly. Squall began to feel the train rumble as it unhinged itself from the Presidents car.

They slowed down slightly, watching the President's locomotive move away quickly. But they were approaching the switch point, and that meant that 'The Forest owls' base and 'dummy' car were going to attach themselves in between the locomotive and the first escourt.

Rinoa watched as the base pulled up and switched tracks. 'The Forest Owl's' train sped up quickly to catch up to the locomotive and then slowed down so it could attach to the Presidents car. Part one was complete.

******************************************************************

_"What should I do...? I know he's not gonna like it. But its my job..."_ The soldier worried. He came in to what he thought was the presidents car from the first escourt

"Sir! Everything's in order, sir."

No response

_"Huh? he's not angry. Phew thats strange. Oh he's reading the paper, I wonder where he got it..."_

A major came in to check on the President.

"What!! Is there a problem?" 

He had felt the train shaking sudennly, and wanted to make sure the President was okay.

"Im in a bad mood right now, If there is nothing in paticular, I order you to leave immediatly." The 'President' suddenly said from behind his newspaper. his voice sounded very cold.

"S-s-sir, aye aye... YESSIR!" The commander said nervously.

He looked at the soldier who was standing behind him.

"You! Don't just stand there! Get back to your station!

"Sir yessir!"

_"There goes another paycheck. That's two in one day..." _The soldier thought

The major ran up to the door to the first escourt, but he sudennly noticed somthing and ran back into the 'dummy' car.

_ "What the heck? Is this the right train?"_ he thought _"The interior looks different. Looks shabbier... Maybe not." _He went back into the first escourt.

The soldier started walking over to the first escourt, sighing.

_"What am I gonna do? No ring. And now no more candle light dinner. I'm never gonna get married."_

_***********************************************************************_

"This is the second escourt, after this we're home free!" Rinoa said. "There are 2 guards on this one too, but Zell and Selphie are uncoupling the dummy from the base, so we're on our own for this one."

Squall slid down the side of the second escourt and input the codes as he had done before. A guard started walking over to check the sensor just as Squall had finished the final code, but it was too late. 'The Forest Owls' Mission was about to succeed.

The cars uncoupled once more. The base and The presidents car, now connected, Switched tracks at the Switch point. The Galbadian cars, hinged together also, continued down the track, minus their President.

***********************************************************************

Once they climbed back inside 'The Forest Owl's' Base. Zone began Speaking excitedly.

"Finally... We've waited so long for this encounter with Vinzer."

"Was that perfect, sir!?" Watts said to Squall. "Amazing, sir! You're the best sir!"

Squall looked away, irritated with the prasie.

_"I hate it when people make such a big deal out of things like this..."_

"Well then..." Rinoa said, looking around. She was in a hurry to confront Deling, but she wasn't going alone.

"Leave the inteligence up to me, sir!" Watts said.

"OwOwOuchhhh." Zone wined, clutching his stomach.

Rinoa just shook her head.

"Okay... You three! Tell me when you're ready to go!" she instructed, looking at Squall, Zell and Selphie."As soon as you're ready, I'll begin 'serious negotiations' with the president."

Squall put his hand to his forehead.

_"Serious negotiations... Right." _he thought as he rolled his eyes. _"Better make sure my GF's equppied."_

Rinoa walked over to the door, and stepped boldly into the presidents train.

"President Deling!" she yelled. "As long as you... don't resist, you won't get hurt..." she said, starting to become a little unsure of herself.

President Deling Looked up at the young girl, and eyed her, grinning.

"And if I do resit... What would you do...? Young lady...?"

Rinoa took a look at the president's face, and fear came over her. She took a step back.

"What's wrong?" Squall asked.

"Boo-hoo... Too Bad..." The 'President' mocked."I'm not the president. I'm what they call... a body double. A clone, if you will."

He stepped up and walked slowly, as if he couldn't balence.

"All these rumors about the many resistance groups in Timber...You pass along a little false information and they fall for it... How pathetic... Seems like there are only amateurs here."

Rinoa was infuriated at this.

"Ama...teurs...!?" she yelled angrily.

The fake president began convulsing. shaking around wildly.

"Ahh... My butt hurts from all this sitting... Young ... LADY..." His voice altered tones sparatically. He sounded insane. "So what did you have in stORE for me, had I resiSTED...? Why doN'T you teLL mE..." He swung his arms wildly, still shaking. 

Rinoa fell to the ground, avoiding his blows. She was scared.

"QuiTE aMUsing thouGH... For beINg such amAtEurs...!!!" He yelled. "HoW daRe YOU InSUlt tHe presIDent!!!'

He lunged at the group attacking firecly.

"YOu FeLL fOr iT!" he screamed. "QuiTe AMusing...." his eyes rolled back into his head, and he screamed. 

"KiLL tHE resisteance...!!!"

The clone ran over to Zell biting him madly.

"Ahhh...!" Zell yelled. "What the hell's it doing?!!"

Squall pulled it off Zell and hit it with the butt of his gunblade, knocking the fake president down. Blood ran down it's lips.

Sudennly, The clone began shaking uncontrably. It's body began convulsing in sickening ways. Its arms hanging lose and flopping about.

"AARRRRGGGHHHH...!!!" Its scream was horrible. The 'clone' began melting into the floor. 

A puddle of disgusting organic goo spread all over the carpet of the train car. 

"What the...?" Squall said in surprise. But he didn't have time to finish. The puddle began rising and forming into a huge deformmed monster.

"BWWAAAAGGHHH..!!" It screamed in pain. Squall looked at the beast carefully. 

_"It looks like some kind of... undead monster...?"_

The monster started attacking the Group, shoving them around and puching with its huge deformmed fists. As it threw its punches at them, the SeeD fighters started feeling woozy. The monster possesed different types of 'status changing' magic, and was attempting to cast it on its opponents while it attacked them. 

The poisonous magic was just weak enough for Squall to conteract.

"What the hell is it?!" Zell yelled. The monster kept swinging and lunging at them. 

Squall ignored Zell's panicing, and called over to Selphie.

"Selphie! Quick! Do you have a Pheonix Down on you!?"

"Yeah... why?" Selphie asked, disgusted by the huge, man-like freak before her.

"He said he's a 'body double'... a clone! The effects of a Pheonix down should be the exact opposite on him! Poor it all over him!"

Selphie nodded and quickly opened a bottle of Pheonix down. She tossed it onto the grotesque mutant before it could attack again.

Squall was right. The beast convulsed and screamed in agony. A Pheonix down, meant usually to help revive an unconcious person, was leathel to this type of 'un-dead' clone. It collapsed onto the floor, melted, and then evaporated into thin air.

"Booyaka!" Selphie exclaimed. "It worked!"

The SeeD members breathed a sigh of relife, and Rinoa picked herself off of the floor. The monster had scared her, but she was almost more upset at having been called an 'amatuer'. Rinoa had almost started to cry.

***********************************************************************

Inside the base, Squall and the others brushed themselves off. Zone was shocked at the news they had for him.

"Man, I can't belive the president was a fake!" 

"I can't belive we fell for it!" Rinoa replied angrily.

Watts came running in, innterupting their conversation.

"Info, sir! New info!" he said excitedly. "It's big news! I found out the real reason why the President's here, sir! The President's going to the TV station! Security's super tight, sir!"

Rinoa looked puzzled.

"...The TV station.? Why in Timber?" she asked. "They can broadcast just as eaisily from Galbadia."

Selphie turned too Squall.

"Do you think the Dollet communicatioon tower has anything to do with this?"

"Whats that?" Zone asked before Squall could respond.

Squall explained.

"Dollet has a communication tower that can transmit and recive radio waves." he said. "It had been abandoned for a long time, but the Galbadian army got it up and running yesterday."

"Ohhh... I get it..." Zone said. "The only TV station that can handle broadcasts over the air is in Timber. Other stations use HD cables, which only supports online broadcasting."

Rinoa understood, but she couldn't fathom why Vinzer Deling would want to use radio waves to broadcast something.

"So what's that supposed to mean?" She asked.

"They're planning on using radio waves." Zone answered."This way, they can transmit images to regions with out cable."

Cable lines were the usual means of communication since radio broadcasting had been put to a hault, 17 years ago. No one really knew why radio waves had not been used, but most TV stations in the world were only equiped to transmit cable broadcasts. The real problem with cable, however, was that only local stations could transmit to there realitive areas anymore. Cable lines which ran underground, and lines which connected different towns and countrys were constantly being severed by monsters. Communications between nations had become near immpossible because of the increasing monster population.

"I know that...!" Rinoa said to Zone, indignatly."What I want to know is, what is the President going to broadcast!? Why use radio waves? There must be somthing they want to say to the whole world." 

They all paused a moment.

"What can it be?" Rinoa said finally.

Selphie was getting bored with the conversation.

"Everybody! Love and Peace!" she exclaimed, half-joking.

Zell, Zone, and Watts, rolled their eyes.

Zone continued the conversation

"If I remeber correctly, radio waves haven't been used in 17 years."

"It's been that long?" Rinoa replied. Sudennly she got an idea. "Wouldn't it be wonderful if the first broadcast could be the decleration of Timber's independence!?"

Zone's eyes brightened at the sound of this.

"Hey! That might be possilble." he said.

"Lets come up with a plan then!" 

Watts, Zone, and Rinoa went over to the corner of the room, and sqautted on the floor.

"Can you guys give us a minute?" Rinoa asked., looking at Squall.

_"...This is their 'strategy meeting'? Oh brother..."_ he thought.

Selphie was getting tired, and she was frusterated with how unorganized the 'Forest Owls' were.

"Can't we go home now?" she asked. "What about our contract? Shouldn't we check it, Squall.?"

Zell was even more upset.

"They call that a strategy meeting!?" he exclaimed.

Squall didn't say anything, but he agreed entirly with Zell, and Selphie.

_"How dose this 'resistance' expect to be taken seriously?" _he thought

Squall walked over to the 'meeting'.

"Oh, Good timing!" Rinoa said as she saw him standing above her. "We've come up with a plan!"

Squall rolled his eyes.

"Uh, yeah. Before we get into that, can I see your contract with our Garden?"

"Oh, sure." Rinoa replied cheerfully.

She pulled a rolled up pice of paper out from her pocket, and handed it too him. Squall grabbed it out of her hand.

"What's it say?" asked Zell

Squall looked it over silently at firast.

_"What? ...This doesnt make any sense... " _he thought.

He read aloud now.

"'Balamb Garden' (hereafter refered to as 'Party A') acknowledges 'The Forest Owls' (hereafter refered to as 'Party B') as the hiring party." He continued. "'SeeD' (hereafter refered to as 'Party C') shall be dispatched upon signing of this contract. 'Party C' shall operate under the supervison...." he stopped reading, confused.

"...The hell...?" Zell said.

Selphie read along with Squall.

"I don't get it..." she said.

Rinoa looked back at them, giggling a little.

"Oh yeah, that one's pretty confusing. When I told him I didn't understand, he gave me a different one."

She pulled out another paper.

"Cid is such a nice man." she said. 

Squall took the contract.

"What's it say this time?" Selphie asked.

Squall read aloud.

"To The Forest Owls,

This SeeD deployment contract will last until Timber achives independence. Please make good use of each SeeD member.

I wish you the best with your objective. Please understand that this contract is an exception, and no replacement of any SeeD members can be made.

Signed, 

Balamb Garden headmaster, Cid Kramer."

Zell was shocked.

"Until Timber's independence!?"

"That is soooo vague!" Selphie said.

"Hey! You're paid professionals." Rinoa said, half-joking. "No complianing!"

She got up from the floor and looked around.

"Ok, so who's going on the next mission?"

Watts backed out of the room qucikly, and Zone's stomach started 'hurting' again.

Rinoa sighed.

"Okay, so Who's coming? Its gotta be me and Squall for sure..." Rinoa said.

Squall, though he was annoyed at the ambiguous contract, decided that they might as well go along with whatever 'The Forest Owls' wanted, for now.

_"...However childish their plans are..."_ he thought.

  


***********************************************************************

End chap 9.

Well, it was going to be longer, but I have to sleep. Still, this is pretty huge, methinks. And that was a good place to stop, right?

So how did you like it? I only put one place marker in this time, cuz there are lots of places that you can find pretty eaislly. (i.e. the scene changes.)

But what a Place marker it was! Yes thats right folks! This chapter housed my very first, "Placemarker Bonus!" 

But that won't be the last one! I'll find lots more FF8 secrets and other irrelevant info for you to use, quote, or simply laugh at!

Stay tuned for the next "Placemarker Bonus!" coming to a chapter near you!

So anyway, R+R!

Next up! chapter 10. (I don't have a title yet. you'll just have to wait for it. ^_^)

***********************************************************************


	11. Chapter 10: Live, From Timber

**Chapter 10.**

**Live, from Timber**

  


****Squall, Zell and Selphie took a break as the train made its way back to Timber. Rinoa had given them a rough idea of what they needed to do when they got back. Basically, they just needed to get to the Timber TV station, and Interupt Vinzer Deling's broadcast somehow. Once they did that, they could broadcast their own message. 

Squall wanted to be left alone for a while, until they reached Timber again. But the only place he could find to rest was the train's operating room. Other members of 'The Forest Owls' were in there, talking, and Squall listened in on their conversation.

"You know, Watts and Zone's fathers founded 'The Forest Owls', " One said.

"Get out! really!?" another replied.

"Yep. 18 years ago on the day before the big invasion, there was an all out hunt for resitance members." Watts and Zone's fathers both died to protect everyone in the city..."

"How'd they... bite it?"

"Galbadian soldiers shot them in front of everyone as a warning. Everybody looked away as they were executed. But..." he paused. "Watts and Zone were watching. They saw the whole thing."

"Oh man..."

"Deling glared down at the two of them like they were dirty rats. He had just become president, so, to show his power... He took a soldier's gun and shot their fathers' already dead bodies."

"That ...Bastard!"

"From that day on, they decided to carry on with their fathers' work as 'Forest Owls'."

"Wow...what a story!"

"Yeah I know... I decided to become a member after hearing that."

_"Oh brother ..."_ Squall thought. It wasn't that he didn't belive the story, but it sounded pretty embelished, and something in it didn't make sense.

_"Watts and Zone aren't much older than me... If that was 18 years ago, they'd only be 1 or 2 years old. There's no way they'd remeber seeing that."_

The 'Forest Owl' who had told the story looked at Squall, noticing that he was rolling his eyes.

"Hey, we Forest Owls may look like a buch of jokers to you guys..." he said indignatly. "But we all have our stories. So try to understand, eh? When it comes down to it, we get the job done." 

Squall turned his head away, irritated

"Still, we've got a long way to go to live up to our two founding fathers." he continued, turning back to the other 'Forest owl'.

Rinoa came in.

"Oh! There you are!" she said as she spotted Squall. "Com'on! We're about to pull in to Timber. When we do, we should start heading over to the TV station!" 

Squall just nodded and follwed her out. Zell and Selphie were waiting at the front of the train.

Squall passed Watts, and asked him a question.

"Where is the TV station anyway?" 

"The TV station, sir? It's close if you take the local train...But all the trains have stopped running. Even the transcontinental ones, sir." Watts answered sheepishly. He stopped and thought for a moment.

"Nothing to worry about, sir!" he blurted, not wanting Squall to get angry. "There must be someone in town who knows how to get there..."

_"These guys don't even know the terrain of their battlefield...?" _Squall thought_. "Even as a rebel faction making discreet attacks, they should know how to get around..."_

The train came to a stop and jerked everyone backwards.

"We'll get off and start looking I guess." Squall said. He was about to have the entire squad come, but he paused a moment. Squall figured that at least one SeeD should stay with the base while he was out.

"Selphie, you stay with Zone and Watts. Zell, you come with me and Rinoa."

"Best of luck, sir! I'll be keeping watch here!" Watts said.

***********************************************************************

On the Timber railline overpass, a group of Galbadian guards and soldiers stood, talking intensly. A major was getting reports from some soldiers.

"A guy dressed up as a cadet... Gathering information?" he said.

A soldier answered quickly.

"He was asking about the president's stay! I found it starnge that a cadet would keep asking about the president... But he was very polite, and kept adressing me as 'sir'."

Another soldier spoke up.

"I think I know who you're talking about! He was talking care of three suspisious looking charecters from Balamb!" He answered. "I'll go question every teenager in the area!!!

The major yelled at him.

"No! We can't just go up to anybody and..." But the soldier ran off. 

"*Ahem*. These are citizens. We can't inflict any..." he began again, but another soldier innterupted him.

"How dare they try to kidnap the president!" He said. "Not only is it disrespectful to the president, but also to us soldiers as well! I'll be sure to find them and throw their sad be-hinds in jail!!!" and he ran off, follwed by the other soldier.

"...Please... Hear me out to the very end... " the major said, holding back his anger.

***********************************************************************

Squall, Zell, and Rinoa dissmounted the train. Squall was finally able to get a good look at Timber. It was a comfotable town, much like Balamb, but Timber seemed designed speciffically for the train tracks which ran all over the town. Train's were obviously a big part of the area's culture.

As they started walking, Watts called after them, and came out on the platform.

"...Say! I remeber now, sir!" he yelled. "I think the TV station is located behind the old Timber maniacs builind! Head that way. I hope you find it!"

They heard Zone yell from inside the train.

"WaaaaaaTTTS!!! C'MON! The Galbadian soldiers are comin'!!!"

"Lots of guards patrolling the city now! Please be careful, sir!" Watts said to Squall.

'The Forest owl's' train started pulling out quickly.

"Hey!!!' Watts yelled. "Don't leave me, sirrr...!" 

He lept off the platform and ran after the train.

Squall, Zell and Rinoa walked off the platform. Squall rumaged through his pockets, looking for some supplies.

"We need to stock up on some potions before we head out. Where's the nearsest shop?" he asked Rinoa.

"Just across the tracks. Over there." She pointed.

At the shop Squall bought ten potions. As he was exchanging his Gil, Rinoa laughed.

"Look..." she said. "'Naughty magazines'." 

_"What?" _Squall thought. Then he saw what she was pointing at. _"Oh God..."_

"Whazzat?" the elderly shop keeper asked. "I can't sell 'Naughty Magazines' to underage kids!"

"No..." Squall began. "We don't want any..." 

"You kids get out of here!" he yelled, throwing the potions at Squall.

Squall caught the bag and rolled his eyes. Adults were so difficult sometimes. Old people were even worse.

_ "Rinoa sure isn't making this easy, either..." _

__He glared at her as they walked away from the shop.

She was oblivious to his irriataion.

"...Zone's into 'Naughty Magazines'..." she said, still giggling.

_"...Whatever."_

As they started walking Rinoa made an announcment.

" I need to stop somewhere." she said. "It'll be real short, okay?"

"Sure." said Squall. "We need to find someone who can tell us how to get to the TV station anyway."

They reached the 'Timber Maniacs' building, it's logo posted in wide letters on the front. There was a man standing outside, smoking.

"'Timber Maniacs' is the name of a puplishing company. They print all kinds of stuff, right here in Timber." Rinoa explained.

Squall walked up to the man standing outside the building.

"Excuse me..." Squall said. "Where's the TV station?"

The man pulled a ciggerette from his mouth and looked at Squall strangly.

"Yeah, that's in this town... There's an alley behind the house next door, but it's below this street level... That'll be your only way to get over to the TV station, since the trains aren't running."

_"That still doesn't tell us how to get there..." _Squall thought. _"Oh well..."_

__"Thanks." Squall said coldly.

"No problem." the man lazily replied. Then his tone changed drastically. "Say! You kids wanna know about 'Timber Maniacs'...? He excitedly.

"Uh...No." Squall said coldly.

_"This guy won't be any more help..." _he thought.

"Oh...well, okay." the man said, putting the ciggerette back in his mouth. "But it's a pretty important place here in Timber..."

"Hey Squall!" Zell said. "Why don't we just go ahead and take a look inside the 'Timber Maniacs' building anyway. Watts said that the TV station was somehwere behind it..." 

_"That sounds like a good idea I guess..."_ Squall thought. 

"Alright." he said.

***********************************************************************

Inside the 'Timber Maniacs' front lobby, the floor was tiled and over head lights reflected brightly from it. The room was clean and well kept, except for the piles of old magazines laying on the floor.

At the front desk, a red-haired woman looked up and smiled.

"Hello. What can I do for you honey?" She asked, eyeing Squall curiously.

Squall grew uncomfortable. 

_"Does she have to look at me like that...?"_

"Nothing." he answered quickly. "We just want to look around."

"Oh, I see. Well cute boys like you are always welcome. Feel free to look around." She winked at Squall and sat down at her desk.

_"...Oh Brother..." _Squall thought. Zell nudged him, smirking.

Squall looked around at the magazines on the floor.

_"There's a lot of old magazines here..." _he thought. _"Hey, these are the 'Battle seris'. I've read all of them."_

They made their way to the back of the lobby and entered the conference room. They were looking for a way to get behind the building.

Inside the back room was a large conference table, piled high with books, magizines and ashtrays. At the back of the room was a large desk.

Squall walked over to the desk, where a man was standing, just staring at the closed window.

_"He should be able to tell us where the TV station is..."_

__The man turned around, noticing Squall and the others. He looked old and depressed, but he tried to be amicable.

"Oh, you kids lookin' around? Is there anything you want to know?

"We were just looking for the TV station, actually." Squall replied. "Do you know how to get there...?"

"Oh, kids these days. All they're interested in is technology." The man started. "Boy, when I was young, we didn't care about the latest gizmos and gadgets. And what does all this technology bring anyway? Violence, thats what! And thats all that people are interested in! Thats why the 'Battle seris' books that we published sold so well... They still do! I tell you, if I was young again I'd change some things that I did when I first started writing..." 

The man went on like this for quite a while.

"... I just don't enjoy this line of work any more. When I was younger, during the Sorceress war, I could write about things that I was passionate about... Now all we do is cater to the public's yearning for violence and sleeze..."

Squall didn't know how to get out. This man wouldn't stop talking, and he hadn't even answered the question.

_"This is so typical." _Squall thought. _ "Adults reminiscing and talking on and on about the things they couldnt or didn't do."_ Squall didn't want to listen to old people feeling sorry for themselves... it was too depressing. 

_"...I hate it." _he decided.

Finally, Squall was able to get a word in.

"Look, uh... We've got to go." he said.

"Oh okay." the man responded, not realizing how long he'd kept them. "A word of advice though!" the man yelled out as Squall and the others walked away. "You're still young! Don't let your life pass you by!"

_"That was a mistake..." _Squall thought.

They all walked out of the 'Timber Maniacs' building, still unsure about where the TV station was.

"Man!" Zell exclaimed. "That took forever! Just goin' on and on..."

"I feel sorry for him." Rinoa insisted. "He's stuck doing something that he dosen't care about any more. I think it's sad..."

_"Whatever."_ Squall thought. 

"We still need to find the TV station...What do you plan on doing exactly once we get in there anyway?" he said to Rinoa.

"Oh... umm... Hey, how about I just tell you when we find it. Okay?" she replied nervously.

Zell looked at Squall oddly. Though the basic idea was to ambush the president when they reached the TV station, neither of them knew exactly how she was planning to do it. They were getting fed up with the hap-hazard attitude that 'The Forest Owls' seemed to employ.

**********************************************************************

Squall, Zell and Rinoa continued walking around Timber, until they reached a railline overpass. Rinoa peered down at the tracks.

"Looks like the trains _have_ stopped running..." she began. "Usually, at least the local trains would be running here. A lot of hustle and bustle..." 

Rinoa hadn't lived in Timber her whole life, in fact she had only joined the resistance about a year ago. But Timber felt like home to her. She missed the sounds of the trains rumbling by.

The group continued down the road until they reached the Timber Hotel.

"I wanted to stop here." Rinoa informed them, pointing at the hotel. "Let's see if we can stay later tonight if we need to... There isn't a lot of room on the base..."

The Hotel wasn't very glamorous. But it was large enough to be comfortable. It even fit a large model train track in the far corner of the lobby.

Rinoa walked up to the front desk. 

"Oh Rinoa! I'm sorry but you can't stay here tonight..." the woman said as she saw Rinoa. She leaned over and whispered in her ear. "(Can't say this out loud, but there are a bunch of roughnecks from Galbadia staying here right now.)"

Rinoa frowned with dissapointment, but she looked up at the woman and smiled politly.

"I understand. Thanks Miss DiMarco."

"Oh, Rinoa..." the woman scolded. "How long have we known each other? Call me Francesca." she said. " You know I'm behind you all the way! Good luck."

***--------------------------PLACE MARKER---------------------***

**(Sick of reading right now? Take a break, and find your spot right here when you come back to the story!)**

Squall and Zell were admiring the model train set that was set up in the middle of the lobby as they waited for Rinoa. A young woman was staring at it as well. She started speaking alloud.

This model looks really good... Quite some craftsmanship..." She noticed Squall standing there. "Don't you think?" 

She turned to him.

_"What!? " _Squall thought, surprised. _"Geez, I don't know... I guess."_

"Better than Rinoa's... " Squall said, quietly joking to Zell. But Rinoa overheard him.

She sat down on the floor in a huff, hugging her knees.

"Thats so mean! I worked really hard on mine!" she said, biting her bottem lip.She really wasn't too upset, but she had been teased enough about her model train.

Squall looked at her. He suddennly felt awful.

"...Just kidding." he offered.

"When someone says they're kidding, it's usuallty half true..." The girl who had been staring at the trains lectured Squall.

Squall was speechless. He felt horrible for saying what he had. He didn't even know why he had said it in the first place. Joking around like that was something he thought was better suited to Seifer, anyway.

Rinoa picked herself off the floor, feeling better.

"...Squall?" she said. Squall hadn't said anything, and he wasn't looking at her.

His back still turned, Squall answered. 

"Oh...Um.. It's just a saying, you know...? ...I'm sorry." he said, visably flustered.

Rinoa looked at Squall, confused. She hadn't been _that _upset. But she felt bad that he was so embarressed. Though it did seem odd, esspessially for him.

_"But then again, I don't really know him that well..."_ she thought. _"Maybe he's not as cold as he seems..."_

Squall regained his composure and they left the hotel, hoping to find a route to the TV station. They almost reached Timber's exit, but two Galbadian Soldiers and two Timber guards were standing by the gate. They heard the soldiers mocking the two guards.

"Better keep you eyes peeled. If you let one resistance meber in here, your dear kids are... well, dead meat. Heh heh heh." The Galbadian soldier laughed.

The guard simply looked away, holding back his rage.

"We have to find the TV station, fast. I can't bear to watch them suffer like this." Rinoa whispered to Squall and Zell.

The soldiers continued. 

"So I heard everyone here supports the resitance. You guys are such fools." he mocked. "Just imagine how much this place would thrive if you were loyal to us. This place is gonna be stuck in the back woods forever!"

The guard couldn't take any more.

"...And you?" he retorted. "Are you happy with your life? Blindly following orders everyday, doing things you probably don't belive in?"

The other guard chimed in.

"So what if we're underdeveloped. We're not looking to Thrive. All we want is to be able to stand on our own feet; to be indepentdant and live according to what we belive."

The first guard spoke in agreement.

"You guys will probably never understand, having thrown away your pride and dignity. We're not the fools. You are."

The Galbadian soldiers were infuriated. They weren't going to take this from some backwood, Timber 'hicks'. 

"You're both DEAD!" one screamed, aiming his gun at the guard's head.

Rinoa couldn't stand it. She had to help.

"No!" she yelled. Rinoa ran over to the soldiers, followed by Squall and Zell. 

She attacked the armed Galbadian soldiers quickly, firing at them with her projectile blade, a 'Blaster Edge'..

"Ugh!" they yelled as the blade sliced through their red uniforms. 

"Thank you for your help." said one of the guards, after Rinoa had finished off the two soldiers. "I got a little carried away." 

"Yes...We appricate your help." the other guard said gratefully.

"Don't worry about it." Rinoa said, smileing. 

Squall and Zell were astounded. Rinoa attacked those soldiers head on. She could fight, but she seemed so childish at the same time. Fighting like that seemed to go agaisnt her friendly nature. But she obviously didn't fall back when the need arose.

Squall spoke up.

"We really should get moving. We still need to get to the station... Wherever it is." he said. "Is there another section of town we can get to from here? The Station obviously isn't accesable from this part of town."

_"How can nobody here know where the frickin' TV station is anyway...?" _Zell thought impatiently. 

Rinoa paused a moment. 

"I think there might be an alley behind the local pub." she said. "Usually we'd just take a train to the other part of town, but since they're not running..."

"Let's try it." Squall said, getting impatient. "It might be the same alley that guy near 'Timber Maniacs' was talking about."

Rinoa led Squall and Zell to the pub. It was set below the normal street level, like the man had said that the alleyway was. 

As they walked down the steps, they over heard some Galbadian soldiers talking.

"That was too easy, man. Heh heh... for a country bumpkin he sure had some good stuff."

"Yo, better ease off a little. These Timber hicks hate us enough as it is."

The first soldier looked up, and shock came over his face. He was half-drunk, but he recognized Squall and Zell. They had come out of the train from Balamb.

"That's those suspisious 'Balamb kids'! Lets get 'em!" he yelled.

The soldiers ran at them clumsily. Squall, Zell, and Rinoa fought them off quickly.

***********************************************************************

Once inside the pub, Squall, Zell, and Rinoa heard someone yelling loudly.

"I've had a enough of this city!" a druken man at the back of the bar said. He was propped up agaisnt the back door, rambling. 

"I came from Dollet to have a good time. And now...Trains are no longer running. Can't even stay in a hotel, because some stupid official... Harrassed by a Galbadian soldier...stole my card... This hasn't been my day." He mumbled and swore about his 'rotten luck'.

The bartender just huffed and looked over at the group that had just entered.

"Those jerks. " he said. "They think they can use brute force to get anything they want." he paused. "Hell... this towns a good example..."

The drunk in the back heard him, and spoke up again.

"Yeah..." he said. "Everything's jacked up because the resistence tried to kidnap the president." He started screaming now. "Thanks to them, the trains have stopped... There's Galbadian soldiers all over the place... All because of them!!! Don't they understand that I'm the one suffering from thier reckless actions.!? Stuipid, boneheaded, good-for-nothing resistance! You can just kiss my..." 

Rinoa innterupted his rambling.

"Hey!" she yelled.

The bartender scolded the drifter, agreeing with Rinoa.

"You don't understand anything!." he said. "The resistance is fighting for Timber's future! They're all doing the best they can. It's the Galbadian soldiers and their leader who are at fault!"

The drunk just turned his head.

"Pshh..."

_"We need to get through that door..." _Squall thought. _"But I don't want to make a scene with this drunken idiot..."_

__Rinoa looked worried.

"What should we do?" she asked.

Squall looked at the drunken man. He deciced to try talking with him.

"We need to get through." he said plainly.

The drunk just continued yelling.

"Geez, and now I'm getting dissed by some punk,,,!?" he said to himself. Then he yelled out. "Owner! Gimme another drink!"

Zell had an idea.

"Hey Squall... (buy him a drink.)" he whispered. "I'm sure he'd be a lot more helpful if we did somethin' for him..."

"What? Zell I can't..." Squall began, remebering the expirience with the shopkeeper earlier. "They won't sell drinks to 'underaged' kids..."

"Tell the bartender that it's for him!" Zell pointed at the drunk. "It'll be fine, just explian that we need to get back there. "

_"...I guess we have to try something." _

Squall went up to the counter and told the bar tender the situation. 

"Yeah, no problem kiddo. Here...take some Krakka. That's what he's been drinkin' for the past hour or so." 

The bar tender handed Squall a red bottle. 

"That's strong stuff though... he's gonna get sick..." he warned.

Squall handed the man the bottle. 

"Here you go." he said. "Can we go through now?" Squall asked, trying to sound patient.

"Hey, punk! You got good manners!" He snatched the bottle from Squalls hand. 

"I ain't the rude type either. Here, take some o' this!" he handed Squall some 'Triple-Triad' game cards to repay him.

_"...Whatever."_ Squall thought. _"I just hope he moves!"_

"Hey, owner..." the man yelled. "I can't stand up. Can ya help me?" 

The owner came over and pulled the drunk away from the door.

"Whoa... *Hic*... I'm totally wasted..." he realized, and then he passed out.

The owner turned to Squall. 

"You can get to the back alley through that door if you need too." he said. Then he looked over at the collapsed drunk. "Boy... We were kind of lost on what to do about him. Thanks"

Squall nodded and opened the back door. Sure enough there was an alley way leading out to another part of town. 

_"That took too long..." _Squall thought. _"I'm sure that we won't get to the TV Station in time to go through with whatever Rinoa's 'plan' is..."_

***********************************************************************

As they exited the alley, Squall looked up and saw a flight of stairs leading up to a large building with the words 'Timber TV Station' painted on the side.

"Wow! It's right here!" Zell said. 

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Rinoa asked excitedly. "Lets go!"

Squall led them up the stairs. As they climbed to the top level, they saw a huge moniter attached in the side of the buliding.

"Whoa!" Zell yelled. "An outdoor TV!"

The screen was large, but nothing was being played on it, just static and noise randomly intercepted by the station. Nothing had been broadcasted yet.

"This is creepy..." Rinoa began, looking at the static. "What is it?"

"This noise is broadcast over most of the freqencies." Squall answered. "Somthing has to be done about this before they can broadcast it over the air."

"Oh really?" Zell said. "I was wondering that myself, actually."

They heard footsteps running quickly up the stairs. It was Watts. He found out what direction the group had went by asking around town.

"The presidents's in the studio now, sir." he reported sadly. "Too many guards now, so we won't be able to storm the place, sir!" 

He ran back down the stairs, on his way back to the base.

Rinoa put her hand to her chin.

"So we can't just rush in..." she thought aloud.

_"What, is she making this up on the spot?!"_ Zell thought. 

Squall was having similar concerns. He wasn't sure that they could carry out a plan with out any amount of time to prepare.

"We've gotta come up with a new plan now!" Rinoa commanded. "If the president leaves, maybe the guards will be gone too?" she looked at Squall questioningly.

"Thats when we do OUR broadcast. It might not be as influential, but it's better than nothing, right?" Rinoa said. She was still looking to Squall to offer her some answers. "We don't stand a chance if we take 'em head on, right?"

"...Don't worry about us." Squall said. "We'll fight your enimies based on your decision." Squall looked away and recited. "That's our duty."

Zell agreed.

"You tell us to go, we go." he said. "Even if it is a losing battle."

Rinoa, a little frusterated that they hadn't any input on what should be done, was surprised at their comments.

"How sad..." she said quietly. "Act on my decision? That's 'your duty'?" She sighed heavily. "Oh, what an easy life it must be, just to follow orders..." her voice trailed off.

_ "Easy... but I couldn't handle it..."_ she thought. _"I just couldn't follow orders all the time like that..."_

Squall and Zell were insulted. Was she looking down on them? Their job was to carry out the faction's plans, not make major decsions for them. Squall looked at Zell, whispered somthing to him, and Zell nodded.

"Call it what you want." Squall said coldly. "All we want is for you to achive your goal using our help." he paused a moment. "I find it hard to belive that you can do it though..."

Rinoa's eyes widened, and her nostrils flared.

"W-What did you say!?" she said indignatly. Squall was quiet. He didn't feel like arguing right now, but he had some major problems with the way "The Forest Owls' conducted 'buisness'.

"If you have something to say, just say it!" Rinoa insisted.

Squall looked at her a moment. He wasn't sure that she could take what he had to say.

"Tell me whats on your mind!" Rinoa said. "This is an order. An order from your client!"

"How serious are you...? Really...?" Squall finally replied. He walked over to her, trying to be calm. But she had asked for it, and he was going to give it to her.

"The three of you plop down on the floor to discuss strategy?" he said. "On top of that, you can't make a decision without our input... right?" he mocked.

Rinoa's eyes glistened, but she held back her tears. She was angry at his words.

"How do you think we feel working for such an orginazation?" Squall continued in a harsh tone.

_"Whoa..." _Zell thought. _"Ease up man." _He walked over to Squall and whispered.

"(You're being to hard man.)"

Squall paused. He hadn't held back any of his irritation, and he now noticed how angry Rinoa was getting.

_"Maybe..." _he thought. 

Squall never use to care about how anyone else felt. He always just kept to himself, anyway. 

_ "Why is she getting so upset, though?" _he thought. _"She really looks like she's about to cry..."_

__ Squall knew that he had gone too far with Rinoa here. But he didn't entirely understand her feelings either.

_ "Zell just takes things too personally sometimes, also... but I'll bet he can handle real critisism better than this." _

Somehow, though, Rinoa's reactions to his harsh attitude made him think twice about the way he said things, even just teasing Zell.

"...Sorry." he said quietly. "Guess I got a little carried away." 

He meant it, but he was embarressed, having to apologize again. He sounded as if he had only done it so they wouldn't have to talk anymore.

Rinoa glared at him.

_"Thats all he can say? After all that? 'I got a little carried away'...? He's really cold..."_ she thought. _"Well, two can play that game."_

"You know..." she began. "Maybe this was all a big mistake. I thought everything would work out fine once SeeD came to help us." she turned her back to Squall. "But, I guess it's not that easy... You were all hired. It's not like you're one of us." she said, harshly.

Feeling somewhat vindicated, she tried to get back to the situation at hand.

"Um, lets see... We'll cancel the plan and we'll disprese for now. We don't stand a chance if we take 'em head on, right?" she continued.

Rinoa paused. She was so irriatated at Squall, she couldn't keep from saying this next.

"So...You guys probably think this is all a game to us." she began." Well, its not!" she yelled. "We're serious. So serious... it hurts." 

Squall looked at her curiously, feeling sorry once again for not watching his words. But that sympathy gave way to discomfort. Squall felt his emotions surging, and it bothered him immensely.

_"So she's upset... I get it, Alright?" _Squall thought, trying to supress his feelings. But it was a difficult battle. _"Arggh... Whats going on with me?" _

Though he didn't want to admit it, Rinoa's way of expressing her feelings, without reservation, was starting to bring Squall out of his 'shell', and he didn't like it. 

Rinoa started to feel the tears coming stronger now as she grew even more upset. She didn't want to be seen crying in the middle of a tough situation, so she ran down the stairs to be alone.

Selphie had followed Watts to the TV station. she was walking up the stairs when Rinoa passed her.

"...Heeey?" Selphie exclaimed as Rinoa ran away.

_"Whats wrong with her...?" _Selphie thought. 

She just shrugged her shoulders and ran up to join Squall and Zell.

Sudennly the TV scren started flicklering, the static becoming less intense.

"Are they starting?" Selphie asked.

Thye screen projected an image now. On the huge moiniter was a podium, backdropped by flags and other Galbadian decorum. The screen flickered slightly, and then cleared up.

Squall and the others saw crewmen running around, still setting up the stage, checking equipment. A man in a suit walked up to the podium, and the stage crew dispersed.

"T-Testing... 1...2... Testing Testing..." sudennly, the annoncer realized that he was on the air. "Ohhh! P-People of the world! Can you see me?! Can you hear me?!..." he asked excitedly. "Oh, this is incredible! Ladies and gentlemen, this is not a recording! This is an actual broadcast over the air! Yes, it's been 17 years since a live broadcast has been possible!"

His voice echoed through the speakers. Sudennly, someone from behind the scenes whispered angrily at the announcer.

"Oh, please excuse me... I seem to have lost my composure." he started again. Dramatic, horn-based music started playing in the backround as the announcer revelied the reason for the broadcast.

"We would like to present to you today, a message from the lifelong president of Galbadia, Vinzer Deling." He said. "Ladies and Gentlemen... President Deling."

The announcer walked off the stage, allowing Vinzer Deling to approach the podium. He looked like a classic politician. Black suit, Blue tie, and slicked back, greying hair.

"Greetings." he began. "I am Vinzer Deling, lifelong president of Galbadia. Today I stand before you to make the following proposition." he began gesturing wildly.

"We the people of this world have the power to end all wars." he stated dramatically, his voice fitting in perfectly with the music.

As Squall, Zell, and Selphie watched from outside, Selphie grew excited.

"See, see! It's a peace proposal to the world. I knew it!" she jumped up and down.

The president continued.

"Unfortunately, there are some trifling problems standing between Galbadia and other nations, and they must be resolved." he said with mock concern.

A jumbling of equipment was heard in the backround. The president looked over his shoulder, irritated, but went on with his speech.

"I plan to convene with other nations' leaders immediately to reslove these problems. At this time, allow me to introduce the ambassador who will be my representative for the conference." he spoke steadily at this point, almost mechanically.

  


***--------------------------PLACE MARKER BONUS!---------------------***

**(Sick of reading right now? Take a break, and find your spot right here when you come back to the story! Oh and here's a little info on 'Timber Maniacs'... It's not much, but just try to live with it for now... ^_^)**

***************************************************************************

Timber maniacs was established 20 years ago. It's first publication, 'Tim Mani', was a compelation of freelance writing. reports letters etc. 'Tim Mani' is no longer printed. "Timber Maniacs' main production is the 'Battle seris' magazines (Magazines about Battling tips, I guess... sort of an 'EGM' or 'Tips and Tricks' for sword fighting or somthing.), and an assortment of anonomous writings.

*********************************************************************** 

Zell was surprised. He thought that the announcment would be more important than that.

"Man! All this just to introduce an ambassador."

"The ambassador, is the Sorceress..." President Deling continued.

Now it was Squall's turn to be shocked.

"...The Sorceress?"

A louder clashing innterupted the president again. He looked. But before he could respond, a trench-coated man rushed into the picture. Galbadian soldiers tried to hold him back, but he sliced at them with his gunblade.

_"...Seifer?!"_ Squall thought.

He was finally restrained by a soldier. Another ran up to help. But Seifer kicked him away, causing the soldier who had a hold of him to fall. Seifer seized this opportunity. He rushed at Vincer Deling, and held him with his arm, the blade of his weapon pushed threatiningly close to the presidents neck

"Whats he doin'?" Selphie yelled.

Sudennly, another familiar figure ran into the screen.

"Stay back!" she yelled to a soldier, who was about to attack Seifer.

"Instructor Trepe!?" Zell cried out in alarm."Squall, what are we gonna do!?"

Another soldier on the screen walked slowly up to Seifer and the president. Seifer's face was intense. He knew he had put himself in a bad spot, and he was getting desperate.

"For the last time, stay back!" Quistis yelled. "You're only going to provoke him."

Squall wasn't sure if they should do anything. Seifer might become even more dangerous.

"...Squall!?" Zell yelled again.

"... Nothing. Our job is to assist the 'Owls'." Squall finally replied."It's none of our buisness."

As if she had heard Squall speaking, Quistis turned to face the camera, which had fallen over in all the commotion.

"Timber Team, are you watching?" she yelled."Get over here right now!" she commanded fircely. "You HAVE permission! I need your help!" 

The screen went fuzzy again. Static rushed over the picture.

"Squall?" Zell said, worried.

"Squad leader?" Selphie chimed in.

Squall had no chioce now.

_"This is going to be bad..."_ he thought.

Squall knew that Seifer might become even more hostile at seeing him. But Quistis had commanded that they come. Squall gestured for Zell and Selphie to follow, and they ran into the Station, ready to fight.

*****************************************************************

As they entered, Squall saw that all the Galbadian soldiers had left the room. Only Quistis, Seifer, and his captive, President Deling, remained. Seifer was still poised to kill the president in a single move.

Quistis felt relived at the arrival of Squall's squad.

"We need to restrain him!" she ordered.

Squall looked at Seifer, and put his hand on his hip.

_"We gotta try talking with him first..." _

"What do you think you're doing?" he said to Seifer.

"It's obvious, ain't it!?" Seifer yelled back, his eyes darting around nervously. "What are you planning to do with this guy?"

"...Planning to do?" Squall said, half-bluffing. He wondered how Seifer knew about their mission.

_"That's right..." _Squall remebered. _"He knows Rinoa. Is that why he's here?" _

"I get it!" Zell blurted out. "You're Rinoa's ..."

"Shut your damn mouth! Chicken-wuss!" Seifer innterupted.

Zell held back his anger, shaking his fists.

Quistis turned to Squall, trying to explain what had happened.

"He broke out of the disciplinary room, injuring many in the process."

President Deling was frightened, and confused. Who were these people? How had his security failed so miserably? 

Zell couldn't hold in his rage any longer. Not only had Seifer insulted him, but he had hurt people in Garden... _His_ Garden.

"YOU STUPID IDIOT!" Zell screamed.

_"Zell, please..."_ Squall thought. Zell was getting too emotional.

"Be quiet." Squall commanded harshly.

Zell ignored him.

"Instructor, I know...! You're gonna take this stupid idiot back to Garden, right!?"

"Shut up! NO!" Squall yelled. But it was too late. Zell had already said too much.

Zell stepped back, realizing what he had revealed.

_"Oh my God...! What have I done!?"_ he thought.

President Deling understood completly now.

"I see... So you're all from Garden." he said slowly.

Zell put his hand to his mouth. He still couldn't belive he had let himself reveal Garden.

Seifer shook his head angrily. The president spoke again.

"Should anything happen to me, the entire Galnadian military will undoubtedly crush Garden." The president said, becoming sure of himself. "You can let go of me now."

Seifer galred at Zell.

"Nice going, Chicken-wuss!" he said. "You and your stupid big mouth!"

Zell was so upset at himself, that he didn't even get mad at Seifer for calling him a Chicken-wuss. Zell just hung his head in shame.

"Take care of this mess! Instructor and Mr. Leader!" Seifer called out as he backed away from them.

Quistis didn't move at first, But then she followed Seifer quickly. Squall ran after them.

***********************************************************************

Seifer entered the backstage room still holding the president close. He stopped, looking around for the exit. All he could see was Broadcasting equipment laying on the floor. 

_"Dammit!"_ he thought.

Sudennly, a hazy, purple smog seemed to instantly fill the room. Seifer stood still, confused and surprised.

"Poor, poor boy..." A erily soft voice came from behind a stage. Seifer saw a woman step out from the stage curtain, dressed in a lavender gown. Her head was covered by a strange mask.

"Stay away from me!" Seifer yelled, inching the blade closer to the presidents neck.

The strange woman paused a moment, and then continued coxing Seifer.

"Such a confused little boy. Are you going to step forward? Retreat? You have to decide."

"Stay back!" Seifer warned.

Quistis ran into the room, noticing the strange haze. The woman saw her, and raised her hand. With that stroke, Quistis was frozen, unable to move.

"The boy in you is telling you to come." She began speaking to Seifer again. "The adult in you is telling you to back off."

She walked closer now. Seifer began to listen, mesmerized by her words.

"You can't make up your mind. You don't kinow the right answer." she paused again "You want help, don't you? You want to be saved from this predicament."

Seifer shook his head.

_"What is she doing to me!?"_ he panicked.

"Shut up!" Seifer yelled.

"Don't be ashamed to ask for help. Besides, you're only a little boy."

She was inside him. Inside Seifer's head. He could barly resist her now.

"I'm not... Stop calling me a boy." he replied calmly. She was gaining control somehow.

"You don't want to be a boy anymore?" she asked, mocking surprise. 

Seifer tetered on the edge of sanity, as the woman began manipulating his mind.

"I am not a BOY!" he yelled, his last attempt at fighting back.

The woman gestured, and Seifer released President Deling. The president ran off scared. But she had control of Seifer now. She gestured for him to come near her. 

Squall and the others rushed in just then. They, too, became frozen in place.

"Come with me to a place of no return. Bid farewell to you childhood." she said. 

Her voice echoed in Seifer's head, and he acted as if he understood now, what he felt he must do.

Seifer waved his gunblade in the air, smileing at the motionless group below him. He then dissapeared behind the stage curtain. The woman followed him.

After they had vanished, The purple haze* was lifted from the room. Quistis shook her head, and ran up to look behind the curtain. Nothing.

_"What just happened...?" _Quistis thought. She was keeping her cool, as usual, but what had happened was almost too much to take.

The others came to. As they were gathering themsleves, Rinoa sudennly appeard from a back room.

"Hey guys!" she said cheerfully.

She started looking around the room.

"Where's Seifer?" she asked. She had seen Seifer from the outside moiniter.

Squall looked at Quistis. She shrugged her shoulders.

_"He just dissapeared behind those curtains...?" _Squall thought.

"We don't know." he replied.

Rinoa looked at the ground, biting her lip.

"He'll be ok, right?" she asked.

She decided that she didn't want to hear the answer. She ran out of the building, followed by Quistis, Squall and the others.

  


***********************************************************************

  


*This is one of my favorite songs...

End chap 10.

Well there you have it. This one was pretty long too.

You know, while I was editing this chapter, I was listening to a lot of 'Queen' and eating Ice cream... I don't know if that means anything, but after hearing 'Fat-bottem girls' about ten times over, on a suger-high, I think my mind got a little warped.

I have some concerns I would like to address about my charecter development, actually. I'm a little worried that I might be putting too much of my own personality into, what is basically my 'version' of, Squall. I think it's because I named Squall 'Nique' in the game ^_^. (Yes, if you haven't figured it out by now, I am writing this story while playing FF8, to get all the major dialog right) So I think I tend to want to make him more like me, or how I would want him to be, or somthing. Does any one have similar concerns? Is my 'Squall' staying true to the original? Is he being develpoed too fast? Are any other charecters bothering you? Please let me know if you have some comments or sugestions. (constructive critisim here, please folks.)

On that note, here's an odd little coincedence... Check out my profile compared to Squall's...

**Name:** Squall Leonhart. 

**Height:** 5'8"

**Age: **17

**Hair:** Dark Brown

**Eye color:** Light Blue.

**Build:** Medium. ( I'm assuming about 150 to 170 pounds. Pretty average...)

**Favorite accessory(s):** Necklace with strange animal on the pendent (yes I know what it is...), Ring with same Beast engraved on it. Leather gloves, Leather jacket.

**Weapon of choice:** Gunblade.

Squall is a lone wolf. He prefers to keep to himself, and is viewed by others as a cold person. Though in him resides a hidden pain, reveiling it to anyone would require trust. That trust requires a certain degree of freindship, which Squall is afraid of. By getting close to someone, then you open yourself up to be hurt and dissapointed. This is why Squall is so silent. He is afraid to open up any emotional ties, so he simply chooses to be anti-social.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Name:** Nicholas. (Full name? Online...? I don't think so... sorry!)

**Height:** 5'8"

**Age:** 17

**Hair:** Dark Brown

**Eye color: **Light Blue

**Build:** Medium. 165 pounds. 

**Favorite accessory(s):** Necklace with a Bear-head-on-a-claw pendant (It kinda looks like Griver, oddly enough.) and another necklace with a Thunder bird pendant, (Hey! Thunder Bird... Quezecotl...?) Class Ring, Leather gloves and Leather Jacket. 

**Weapon of choice:** Dude, if I had a weapon, you KNOW it would be some kinda kick-ass sword. Gunblades are definatly high on that list.

Well, I'm not quite like Squall in ALL respects, (thankfully!), but then again, I didn't go through what he did in his childhood. But, I'm pretty quiet, though it's more out of a desire to be mature and *ahem* more 'adult', than it is out of shyness, and I've been accused of anti-socialness many times becasue of that.(That's _sort of_ like Squall, I suppose.) I prefer to work alone at most things, as I have trouble trusting my peers to get the job done, whatever it may be. And I have a large circle of friends which I've had since I was just a little guy. Three maybe Four... (FF8 vets will be able to draw the similaritys there easially...)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Weird, huh!? I mean, I was able to identify with Squall pretty well the first time I played through the game, but I never realized how much physically I had in common with the charecter until now. Even some major personality traits I've noticed in myself, match Squall's... 

It was really kind of odd when i realized this, not only because of my similaritys with Squall, but also because my best freind is... 6'2", 18 years old, and has short blond hair... ( *cough! cough!* _Seifer!_ *cough! cough!*) Though I assure you, my friend has never given me a deep scare across my forehead, and he will never hold a sword up to the neck of a government official. (Unless, of course, he was ordered to do so by his 'Garden'... ^_^) 

So anyway... yeah, that was weird. I know it sounds like I might be making this stuff up, but I swear it's all true! It's just somthing I noticed one day...! Any of you ever had that expirience? The feeling that you are so similar to a charecter in a book, movie, or video game, that it just kinda freaks you out? 

Uhhh. okay this is going on way too long so I'll try to wrap it up here pretty quick... Just one more thing...

I've at times felt that my vocab in the story is somewhat repetative. I actually do have a fairly extensive vocabulary, but I seem to have trouble putting it in to practice. If you feel that I could use a little more variety in my grammer, reference me to an online thesaurous or something. it would be greatly appriciated.

Well, up next! 

Chapter 11: Garden code: Article 8 line 7.

  


P.S. Now that more charecters are coming into play, there are options of how to divide up the the party members. This is difficult for me, because _I_ have to decide who goes where in my story! I supose this won't affect any major stroyline points, but go ahead and drop me a line telling me who you want to see in the main group in which part of the story. Yes that's right! you have some control over this! But be sure to tell me _why_ you want it that way, or I can't really consider it. I will most likely put the sugestion in to play when the story requiers that two groups be in two different places at once.

(Basically, the most entertaining, or most reasonable request 'wins'.)

***********************************************************************


	12. Chapter 11: Garden Code Article 8: Line ...

**Chapter 11.**

**Garden code; **

**Article 8: Line 7**

  


"They found our base. It's completly destroyed." Rinoa told the group as they ran down the TV station's stairs. She spoke causually. Selphie was concerned though. 

"And everyone else?" she asked.

Rinoa giggled.

"They're fine. They're good at escaping."

***********************************************************************

At he bottem of the stairs, Rinoa sat down, hugging her knees again. She didn't seem sad, but a hint of worry echoed in her voice.

"We have to stay away from Timer for a while." she said. "Is there a safe place you can take me?" she turned to Squall.

Squall put his hand to his forehead with annoyance. 

_"We're gonna be gophers again...?"_ he thought. Squall was reverting back to his old personality. Seeing Seifer had helped him to regain his decidedly cinical attitude again.

Rinoa saw his irritation, and she tried to make the request easier for him to swallow...

She turned it into a command.

"This is an order, an order from your client, remember?" she said.

Squall didn't really know where he could take her, but she was right. They had to abide by the contract.

"...Alright." he said.

Rinoa smiled and jumped around excitedly. It was almost as if she had forgotten her and Squall's argument earlier. She seemed so happy now.

Rinoa ran back to the alley and the pub's back door, followed by her SeeD 'escourts'. Inside she was stopped by a heavy-set woman in an apron.

"Rinoa! I heard your base is in serious trouble." she said. "Come over to my place until things settle down."

"I appriciate it. Thank you..." Rinoa replied.

Quistis was standing right behind her. She saw Squall, just coming in.

"What are you waiting for Squall? Com'on!"

Quistis followed Rinoa, and the woman she had spoken with, out of the pub.

***********************************************************************

On the street everyone ran quickly, trying to avoid any Galbadian soldiers that might be patroling the area.

"This way!' Rinoa yelled.

Rinoa led them all the way to the 'Timber maniacs' Buliding. She stopped at the house in front of it.

"This is it." she said.

Once they gathered inside the house, the aproned woman spoke.

"I'll tell you if anything changes. 'Til then, make yourself at home." she told the group. She walked outside to keep an eye out for soldiers.

"Thanks, chief." Rinoa said.

Squall folded his arms at this.

"Chief?" he asked.

Rinoa smiled.

"She's the leader of the 'Forest Fox'." she explined. "Almost everyone's a resistance member in this town."

Squall rolled his eyes as she spoke.

_"They must be.... It doesn't seem to take much to qualify as one here..." _he thought.

"But right now, we're the only ones that are really active." Rinoa giggled a little. 

Squall was about to say how 'dumb' he thought that was, but he thought better of it.

"Let's stay here for a while." Rinoa instructed. 

***********************************************************************

For nearly an hour, no one spoke. The 'Chief' had fed them, which everyone was thankful for, but even after eating, they were still quiet. Everyone was really confused by the events that had erupted. 

Finally Selphie got too bored with the silence.

"I still don't get it." she said. "What did Seifer come here for?" she turned to Rinoa, thinking that she might know.

"I think..." Rinoa began. "... he came to help us, the 'Forest Owls'. I talked about it a lot with him."

She noticed everyone staring nervously at the ground. None of them really liked Seifer, and his actions at the TV station had boardered on treason. But no one knew what had happened exactly either. It was too confusing.

Rinoa felt the uncomfortable silence harshly.

"So please... don't think too badly of him." she pleaded.

Sudennly, there was a loud knocking at the door. A deep voice yelled.

"Anybody in here!?" It was a Galbadian soldier.

The 'Chief' responded back.

"What is this!? I have two small children in here. Don't do anything to frighten them!"

A girl ran down the stairs. She was the 'Chief's' daughter.

"Upstairs, hurry!" she commanded. She had heard the soldiers from the upstairs bedroom.

Everyone complied. Rinoa stopped at the foot of the stairs though.

"Will she be ok?" she said, looking at the 'Chief'.

"She'll be fine." the 'Chief's' daughter assured her. "The legend goes... That my mother took down many soldiers with her strength, cooking, and beauty."

Selphie was only half-way up the stairs. She laughed at the story.

"That 'beauty' part sure makes it sound like a legend." she joked.

The 'Chief's' daughter just smirked and rushed them all upstairs.

In the second floor bedroom, everyone was quiet.

"...Wonder if he's alright...?" Rinoa whispered to herself, hugging her knees in the corner.

Selphie plopped down on the bed and layed flat.

"So tired..." 

They hadn't much oppurtunity to rest lately. This was a rare time that they could relax for a minute. Or, at least, they would have. Too much had happened. There was too much to think about.

Zell went over to the corner opposite of Rinoa and squatted down. He was still infuriated at himself for revieling Garden to the president. 

_"That'll end up doing more damage than Seifer ever could've..." _Zell scolded himself.

Finally, Quistis decided to relate what had happened.

"...He was so angry when he found out it was only the three of you dispatched to Timber." she began. "'What!? They might end up fightin' the whole Galbadian force! And all they dispatch are three rookie SeeD members!?'" She recited Seifer's words exactly, even his angry tone. "'Dammit! I'm going to Timber!'" 

Quistis used her own voice now.

"I never would have guessed he was serious about it."

Squall folded his arms.

_ "That guy's always serious. You should know that by now..."_ he thought. _"I've got the scar across my face to prove it, too."_

Quistis paced to the window nervously.

"What's going to happen to Seifer?" she asked herself aloud.

_"Should be obvious..."_ Squall thought,.

"He may already be dead." he said plainly.

Everyone was quiet. They disliked him. But Seifer dead? It didn't seem right. 

Rinoa was shocked. She didn't want to hear that. Espescially not in such an uncaring tone.

"How can you be so casual?" she asked. "I feel..." She paused. "...sorry for him." 

_ "Feel sorry?"_ Squall thought. _"Seifer would hate to hear that." _

He started chuckling to himself. Just the thought of Seifer's classic reaction made him laugh.

_"'I hate it when people say that 'they're sorry'. I don't need anyone's pity...' " _

Seifer would always play the 'tough-guy' act, with everything and everyone.

_"'I love battle. I fear nothing...' "_

Rinoa picked herself up from the floor. She eyed Squall accusingly.

"What's so funny!? You're terrible!" she yelled at Squall for laughing.

Selphie didn't want to be in the middle of an arguement, so she innterupted.

"So... Why do you think Seifer may already be dead?" she asked.

_"Because ..."_ Squall started thinking. He decided to finish his thought aloud.

"The president and the sorceress joined forces. Seifer attacked the president. It's no surprise that Seifer may have been killed because of it."

Rinoa couldn't take anymore. She didn't know what had happened, but she hated Squall's hopeless attitude.

"Even so!" she yelled. She rested her hands on her knees and looked up at Squall, like she had on the train. "I still hope he's alive."

Squall turned away from Rinoa, averting his eyes from her saddned gaze.

_ "Think what you want." _he thought coldly. _"...Reality isn't so kind. Everything doesn't work out the way you want it to. That's why..." _He decided again to finish his thoughts aloud. 

"As long as you don't get your hopes up, you can take anything... You feel less pain." He turned to face Rinoa, his face cold and expressionless. 

Squall sounded as if he was partly speaking to himself. He was always reminding himself of his philosophy.

_"Everyone needs to take care of themselves..."_

Selphie didn't like Squall's line of reasoning. But she stayed quiet, not wanting to cause even more of a confrentation.

_"You feel less happiness, too, though..."_ she thought.

"Anyway." Squall continued. "Whatever you wish you have is none of my buisness."

Rinoa just glared at him.

"...You're mean." she said simply. "MEANY!" 

She sounded like a little girl who had been teased too much.

_"What's with her...?" _Squall thought. He gave in slightly to compassion now, but he didn't let it overtake him.

"...Sorry." he said begrudgingly.

After a long, drawn out silence, the 'chief' came upstairs.

"The Galbadian forces are withdrawing. Only the soldiers normally stationed here will stick around."

Everyone's ears perked up. This was their chance to get out of Timber.

"If you're gonna leave town, now's your chance! You know how persistant those soldiers can be!" she warned.

Everyone ran out of the room, leaving only Squall and Rinoa. Rinoa started walking towards the steps, but she turned around and looked at Squall. It wasn't an angry glance, though. 

Rinoa, as mad as she was at Squall right now, felt a little sorry for him too.

_"He's so... cold." _she thought._ "...How can he live like that...? He's really mean..."_

But she remained quiet and walked down the stairs.

*****************************************************************

On the bottem floor, Selphie was looking out the window, longingly.

"I wanna go home!" she whined.

Zell and Rinoa were both silent.

"Seems like everyone's tired..." Quistis observed. She looked up at Squall. 

"Squall, any thoughts on where to go?" she asked.

_"We have to get out of here first..."_ Squall thought.

As if reading his mind again, Quistis spoke.

"Getting out of here is only the first step."

Squall thought for a moment. She was testing him.

_"I guess old habits are hard to break."_ he thought, remembering that Quistis was no longer an instructor.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Garden code, Article 8, line 7." Quistis hinted.

Squall searched through his mind. He almost had the entire Garden codebook memorized.

_"8:7..."_ Squall thought,_ "In the event that returning to the assigned Garden is not possible, report to the nearest Garden..."_

"Head for the nearest Garden..." he answered.

"Very good!" Quistis commended. "From here, that would be Galbadia Garden.

Rinoa chimed in.

"We can take the train from here and get off at a station called the 'East academy'." 

Quisits nodded.

"From there, we have to go through the forest west of the station to get to Galbadia Garden. I've been there several times. We should be okay.

"...Ok then..." Squall agreed. "We'll escape from Timber and head to Galbadia Garden."

***--------------------------PLACE MARKER BONUS!---------------------***

**(Sick of reading right now? Take a break, and find your spot right here when you come back to the story! Oh, and for my third 'Placemarker Bonus!', here is all the possible party combinations at this point in the game. Read down and_ then_ left to right.)**

*****************************************************************

  


-Squall Squall Squall

Zell Zell Zell

Selphie Rinoa Quistis

  


-Squall Squall

QuistisQuistis

RinoaSelphie

  


-Squall 

Rinoa

Selphie

  


**Tip for first timer's**

-At this point in the game, you're gonna want to make sure that Selphie and Quistis have GFs and magic junctioned. (I won't give it all away yet, but just trust me. 'They' are gonna be in your party whether you choose them or not.)

***********************************************************************

**Kind of useless, I know. But these will get better. I promise! ^_^**

***********************************************************************

  


Before they went out, the 'chief' had somthing for them.

"You be careful now. Take this with you."

She handed Squall a medicine kit. It came with potions, pheonix down, and several other items.

_ "This is good stuff here..."_ Squall thought. He wasn't sure how heavily popualted the monsters were near Galbadia, but the number of monsters had increased dramatically all over the world lately. The medicine would come in handy if they were attacked on their way to Galbadia Garden.

"Thanks." Squall said.

As they all stepped outside the 'Cheif's' house, Squall saw a Galbadian soldier running toward them.

"Not good!' Zell yelled, prepareing to fight. Everyone stood, ready to defend.

The soldier squeeled as they came closer though.

"It's me, sir! It's me!" 

Squall recognized the overly polite tone imediatly. It was Watts.

"Got some info, sir." he reported. "Timber station will be shut down temporarily."

"Mega-bummer!" Selphie replied.

"Not necessarily." Watts assured her."It's not completly shutdown yet. The last train out of here is bound for the 'East Academy'."

Squall nodded. That was just what he wanted to hear.

"We're getting on that train." he said firmly.

Watts looked at Rinoa from under his shiny Galbadian helmet.

"You're going too, right Rinoa?"

"Yeah." Rinoa began, slightly confused. Wasn't Watts coming too? 

"What about you, Watts?"

"No need to worry 'bout me, I'll go gather more info!" Watts said confidently.

Rinoa ran over to him. Resting her hands on her knees, she looked up at Watts.

"I promise I'll be back. You take care, ok?" she said.

Watts sighed happily. Rinoa's concern for him made Watts feel good. He looked over to Squall.

"Squall, please take care of Rinoa." Watts pleaded. 

He would never forgive himself if Rinoa was harmed. But he trusted Squall.

_"These SeeDs will be able to keep her safe better than we could..."_ Watts thought.

"Yeah, don't worry." Squall replied. "Client's orders." 

He was about to leave at that, but Squall was unsure about something.

_"Their base was destroyed... How will they hide...?"_

"What about you? Will you be safe here?" Squall asked.

Watts was surprised. He would never have expected concern like that from this, usually cold, SeeD member.

"I'll be fine, sir! I'll put up the fight of my life!" he said, proudly saluting the group.

Everyone saluted back. Watts felt glad to have the support.

"I'm happy, sir!" he said. And then Watts ran off to 'collect more info.'.

Squall led them to the Station on the far side of town, near the pub. Now that the trains were running, they could board the one headed for the 'East Academy' station.

As they walked over to the station, they noticed a strange man walking around.

"Rinoa! Squall! it's me!"

Rinoa was surprised.

"Zone!"

Zone was disgused, quite ingeniously, as an elderly man. He was wearing some make-up that gave his skin a worn, wrinkled look, and some old, dirty overalls. He even hunched over perfectly.

"You need to go to the East Academy, right? There's no more tickets left." Zone informed them, trying to make his voice sound aged and raspy.

They were all dissapointed at this. They were tired, but Selphie needed to rest espescially. As long as they stayed in Timber, they would have to keep on their toes. She didn't know how much longer she could keep it up.

"Super-duper-mega-bummer!" Selphie cried.

Squall was determined though. 

_"We'll stow away if we have too... Don't know when we'll get the chance to leave town like this again."_

Galbadian security was going to be on full alert after all that had happened today. Though Squall knew that they could fight off a fair amount of soldiers, and probably find somewhere to hide, he didn't want to take any chances. Galbadia had recently developed a means of using 'magic' through the use of specially designed weapons. Though it wasn't very powerful magic, and the soldiers were only able to use basic elemental skills, Galbadian forces always seemed to have some trick up their sleeves to make up for anything they lacked. 

Besides that, Squall and the others wouldn't be able to catch a train after this one. Walking to Galbadia Garden would take a long time, and getting past security without any commotion would be near immpossible.

This was their only option.

"We'll do whatever it takes to get on that train." Squall said.

Zone smiled. He was up to something.

"You won't have to do that." he said slyly. "Looky here! I have eveyone's ticket right here!"

Zone pulled out several train tickets.

_"Good planning..."_ Squall thought. This was one time that the 'Forest Owls' had actually impressed him.

Zone walked to Rinoa first.

"One for you." he said properly. 

Then he walked over to Squall.

"Three for you SeeD people. Here I'll give them to the leader." He shoved the tickets into Squalls hand.

"And the last one is for me...." Zone's voice trailed off. he saw that an extra person was present now... Quistis.

Zone walked over to her slowly, and handed her his ticket.

"Go on. Take it." he offered.

Quistis couldn't accept this. She didn't want to leave this guy stranded in Timber.

"I can't take that. It's yours!" Quistis replied.

"Ouch!" Zone yelled out sudennly. He shoved the ticket into Quistis' hand and walked off before she could refuse.

"Ouuuuuuuuch!" he moaned. "My stomach hurts! Ouch!" Zone sat down on the ground, clutching his stomach.

But everyone just stood there. Seeing that they weren't buying his 'act', Zone urged them to go.

"Just get going! The train's leaving."

Quistis walked over to him. 

"Thank you." she said softly.

Rinoa, too, ran over to Zone. She squatted down and put her hand on his sholder.

"Zone... We're gonna see each other again, ok?" she said. "No matter what, you have to survive. We have to liberate Timber together, remember?"

"I know, I know..." Zone replied. "I'll go hide in a bathroom or something... Now get going."

Everyone nodded and ran off to the train platform. As Squall walked by, Zone gestured for him to come over.

"Ouch..." he said, still clutching his stomach. "Take care of Rinoa, will you? I'll kill you if you let anything happen to her." His voice sounded serious, and harsh.

Squall didn't know how to reply to Zone's serious command. He just walked over to the train platform, leaving the 'Forest Owl' to his 'stomach ache'.

**********************************************************************

Two young children were playing on the platform's bridge.

"The bridge splits apart when the train comes!" a little boy yelled. "You gotta make it across just as it splits!"

Squall ran across the bridge, past the kids, and over to the train entrance. They heard the train annoucer speak.

"This train is bound for Dollet, stoping at 'East Academy'. This is the last train for today. Please hurry onboard."

Quistis was waiting for Squall with the others. 

"Com'on!" she urged.

All five of them boarded the train.

Once inside, they heard the train engine rumbling loudly. The Trains P.A. system was then activated.

"This train, bound for 'East Acamdemy', will depart shortly." The announcer said.

The train statred moving, causing the group to stumble slightly.

"Well... we..." Squall began.

"Open, open OPEN!" Selphie interupted. She was waiting by the door which lead to the inner hallway of the train. She wanted to look out the window.

"...made..." Squall continued, but Selphie innterupted again.

"Please..." she asked, yelling at the door."Open up!"

Squall turned to her, glaring.

_"Better let her have her way."_ he thought.

He walked ove to the keypad and slide his ticket in. He heard the small computer beeping.

"Confirming... Access granted..." a computerized voice came fom the speakers.

The door slide open.

"Tee-hee! Thanks!" Selphie said to Squall. She ran into the front to gaze out the train's windows.

Rinoa wanted to finish hearing what Squall had to say.

"Weren't you just saying something?" she asked.

"Oh... Just that... We made it..." Squall said quietly. 

_"It really wasn't important..." _he thought.

"I have to thank Zone for that." Quistis replied.

Rinoa looked over at Quistis and giggled.

"He's into naughty magazines." she said sudennly.

Quistis was a bit put-off by the odd comment.

"I'll keep that in mind..." she said, looking strangly at Rinoa.

_"She looks familiar..."_ Quistis thought. _"Oh! She's that girl that Squall danced with last night...!"_ she realized, not sure if she was entirly pleased with the situation. _"What a coincedence..."_

Zell had positioned himself in a corner again. He was still beating himself up over his 'big-mouth'.

"(...Oh man...)" he whispered.

No one seemed to notice, but Zell was being unusually quiet. He was getting really depressed.

Squall frowned. He wasn't sure why, but somthing didn't feel right. It was more than the uncomfortable silence that now prevaded the room.

_"...Of course..." _Squall thought to himself. _"Nothing feels right now. Not after what we just went through..." _but the feeling went beyond that.It puzzled Squall.

__Rinoa saw his expression. Despite their earlier argument, she was somewhat concerned about him now. 

"What? What's the matter?" she asked.

Squall just shook his head, signifiing that it wasn't anything important. He decided to go inside with Selphie. He needed some room to breath.

***********************************************************************

Selphie was leaning up agaisnt the window sill, staring out the window. It was almost exactly the same as the train ride that had brought them to Timber. She was even whispering to herself in the same way.

"I love trains." she said. Selphie started singing the same lullaby that she had sung on the way to Timber.

_"...Before we all passed out..."_ Squall remembered.

"Train Train, take us away,... Take us away, far away,..." Selphie sang softly, but cheerfully. "To the future we will go... Where it leads, no one knows..."

Squall knew that he definatly had heard the tune before. He just couldn't place his finger on when and where.

_ "It sounds so familiar..."_ he thought. This feeling, too, made Squall uncomfortable. He decided to leave the train hallway..

He sat down on the floor in the entrance area. Quistis began speaking. 

"No time to even rest, really." she started. Her voice trailed off, though.

Everyone was quiet for the rest of the trip.

  


***********************************************************************

End chap 11.

Not much action here. Lotta dialog. But I had fun with this one anyway.

Any one else catch that kinda erie message in Selphies song? 

Here it is in its full form. (So far...?)

_"Train,Train, Take Us Away_

_Take us Away, Far Away,_

_To The Future, We Will Go,_

_Where It Leads, No One Knows,"_

***Spolier alert! Don't read on if you haven't played the game!***

I mean, the whole thing ends up being about the future and time and falling in love etc... (It's all very poetic and beautiful, etc...) I'm gonna use Selphies song to preface some later chapters I think. The game's all about love, but its also carrys themes about remebering your childhood, your life, not wasting it, looking to the future, not knowing what the future holds... Shoot! Even the loser-editor of the 'Timber maniacs' has something significant to say about this stuff... If only Squall would listen...

***End spolier***

Next up! chapter 12: Dreaming part Deux! (Or somthing. any sugestions?)

Anyway, the next chapter will be really exciting. It's another Laguna chapter. It starts off a little differntly than the other one. It'll be a short seqence in the forest with our lovable main charecters (Squall, Rinoa, Quistis,Selphie, Zell,) and then we'll go to Laguna's part.

***********************************************************************


	13. Chapter 12: Dreaming? The Centra Excavat...

**Chapter 12**

**Dreaming(?); **

**The Centra Excavation site.**

Upon dissmounting the Train at the 'East academy' station, Squall led the group across Galbadia's 'Monterosa' Plateau. The plateau was seperated from the rest of Galbadia by a large canyon wall. 

Squall, Zell, Rinoa, Quistis and Selphie all truged along the 'Yaulny' Canyon, until they reached an opening. In between the canyon walls, was a forest.

"This is it." Quitis informed Squall.

The group entered the forest causiously, one by one. Selphie was the last to enter. Something about the forest seemed strangely familiar to her, but she couldn't quite place her finger on it.

"We're not too far from Galbadia Garden now!" Quistis annonced.

They all stoped a moment to rest.

"Heeey, I was just thinking..." Selphie began. "There might be some bad news from the Galbadian government." Selphie raised her voice in an excited tone. "What if we get caught and then get broadcast to the whole world...!?"

Zell, who had been silent the whole trip, walked over to Selphie and spoke angrily, shaking his fists.

"Whatever happens, happens! Now come on! Let's just keep going!" he yelled.

Zell lowered his voice now, trying to calm down.

"I- I'm worried about Balamb Garden." he said. Zell droped his head, and spoke sadly. "If anything happens to Garden, it's all my fault. I'm the one who said we were all from Garden..."

Zell walked over to Squall. While he couldn't erase what he had done, Zell wanted to be assured that Garden would be safe. Any kind words would help. The guilt, increased by the uncertainty of what could happen, was almost too much for Zell to take.

"You think the president will retaliate on Garden?" he asked Squall, longing for an optomistic reply.

Squall turned his face away from Zell. He didn't know what to say. The thought that Garden might be attacked was unpleasent, but Squall had to assume the worst.

_"Can't get our hopes up..." _he reminded himself.

"Maybe." he replied. 

Zell hung his head again.

"...Figures..." 

Then, a thought came to him. He grabbed Squall's jacket, shaking him as he spoke.

"B-B-But, we have a whole bunch of SeeDs at Balmab Garden!" Zell pleaded. "They wouldn't lose to the Galbadian army, would they?"

_"What does he want me to say? 'Everything's going to be ok'? 'Don't worry'? ...I'm not gonna get everyone's hopes up, just because Zell wants to feel better..."_

"Depends how strong the army is." Squall replied plainly. 

Zell let go of him.

"I know, but..." His voice trailed off. It was no use trying to get encouragement from Squall. Zell just became more worried.

Sudennly, Rinoa, who had been listening a few yards away, couldn't stand Squall's attitude anymore.

"Oh, you're just a great leader, aren't you..." she began, sarcastically. She walked over to Squall, placed her hands on her knees and looked up at him.

"Do you actually have fun acting so callous towards your comrades?" Rinoa asked with irritation.

_"...Not again." _thought Squall. How often was she going to get mad with him?

"Zell wants your support." she continued.

_"I knew it was gonna be something like that..."_

Rinoa placed her hands on her hips, frusterated.

"Any kind of encouragement will make..."

Squall thought to himself as she spoke.

_"That's just to ease your mind. Am I the only one who thinks that? No. I'm sure Seifer..."_

Rinoa raised her voice, innterupting Squall's thoughts.

"Don't you ever worry about or even think about the well-being of your comrades!?'

_"I don't belive in relying on others."_ Squall thought coldly.

He just stood there as Rinoa spoke. She was trying to get through to him, but he didn't respond. It was frusterating.

"Don't you understand!?" she pleaded angrily.

_"...Whatever." _Squall thought. He didn't want to hear anymore of this.

"Are you listening, Squall?" Rinoa asked. She saw Squall roll his eyes and became even more irritated.

Squall was about to walk away and ignore Rinoa's comments, but an odd sensation rushed over Squall, weakening his body.

_"...What the!?"_ he thought. He could hear and feel ringing in his ears, and he started to become drousy.

_"...This sensation..."'_

Squall put his hand to his forehead, and started swaying back and forth until be started to fall.

Rinoa backed away as Squall fell over, unconcious. She gasped.

_"What happened to him?!" _

Quistis began swaying back and forth sleepilly as well.

"..Unnnhh..." She fell over.

Selphie put her hand to her forehead, her eyes glazed over. She spoke in a drousy voice. 

"...M-Me, too..." she said. Selphie then plopped down on the grass and began to sleep.

Zell and Rinoa looked on at them as they laid on the forest floor, 'sleeping'. Rinoa was scared.

"What's going on!?" she asked in a frightened voice.

Zell squatted down, examining Selphie.

"I think..." he began. "they went to the 'dream world'."

***********************************************************************

Squall found himself staring over a cliff, looking at what appeared to be an excavation facility below. Once again, he found himself unable to control his speech or movements. Squall hoped that this wasn't what he thought it was, but he realized that he was again 'inside' Laguna Loire. He heard two voices speaking behind him.

"Kiros, you sure this is the place?" a heavy voice sounded.

"Positive." the other replied.

"I Don't wanna be patrolling the wrong place, like last time." the heavy voice said. Squall recognized it. 

_"Ward... Right...?"_ Squall thought._ "And the other is Kiros..."_

Sudennly, 'Squall' turned around to face the two men.

"Ahhh, sorry... This ain't the place." Laguna said apologetically.

Ward and Kiros shook their heads. They thought he was joking.

"This is it," Kiros assured him. "Let's go commander."

_"It is...?" _Laguna thought.

He pulled a piece of paper from his uniform paocket, and compared it with what he saw down below.

_"We're in the right spot but I..."_

"I brought the wrong map." Laguna admitted.

_"Great... I have to listen to this moron's thoughts again..."_ Squall thought sarcastically.

Ward and Kiros put their hands on their heads with irritation.

_"Here we go again..."_ Ward thought.

_ "What on earth...!?" _Quistis attempted to speak. She awoke from her sudden 'faint' to find herself unable to control her movements. Not only that, but she had somehow 'transformed' into a tall, heavy-set man.

_ "I... This... What happened? How did I get here?! Where am I...?"_ Quistis' thoughts raced. She had no idea what was going on, or where eveybody else was. All she could see was the two Galbadian soldiers in front of her. 

"Somehow, I have a bad feeling about this..." one of the soldiers said. It was Laguna. "Seriously, I have a BAAAD feeling...! There's somthin' fishy goin' on here! You know what the old folks say... 'The unfamiliar always happens'..."

Selphie had found herself 'inside' Kiros again. She was surprised, but she drew some comfort from the fact that Squall and Quistis were probably going through the same thing 'inside' Laguna and Ward. She saw both of them pass out before she had.

_"We all 'dreamt' the same thing before... So they must be having the same expirience."_ she thought. _"But...Oh no! Poor Quistis....She doesn't have any idea what's going on! ...Not that any of us really do, anyway..."_

"You mean... 'unexpected', right?" 'Selphie' said. It was Kiros talking.

Ward chimed in.

"You only got the 'un' part right."

_"What am I saying...?! I can't control myself at all... Is it me? What's happening?!" _Quistis was confused, but she tried to remain calm. This was such a strange expirience. She hoped that she was dreaming, but it seemed so real.

"Aah, shut up!" Laguna replied."Stop your clamorin' and make sure all your gear's equipped. Now let's move out!" he ordered.

They all started running down the path along the cliff's edge. They brushed by numerous ferns and other jungle plants as they ran down.

They reached the bottem to find a large mining structure. It was lined with metal walkways, and Conveyer belts carrying heaps of earth on them.

"But seriously... This place sure is strange..." Laguna voiced his concern again. He noted a large pile of stones .

"What the heck is this big pile of rocks? You think these are natural rocks for carving tombstones...?"

Kiros rolled his eyes.

"Who knows... or cares?"

"Speaking of strange..." Ward began. "Why have you been running around so strange?" he asked Laguna.

Laguna had been running with his back hunched over. Ward found it odd.

"Strange...? What do you mean strange? ... Just bein' cautious. That's the basic rule of thu..."

A sharp noise in the distance interuppted him.

"...Hey?"

A silver-suited figure ran towards the group.

"Looks like we've got company... Estar soldiers." Laguna warned. "Still wearin' those flashy uniforms...." 

Sudennly, another Estarian soldier appeared behind them. They were suronded.

"Laguna...!!!!" Ward yelled.

Two more silver-suited Estarians joined.

"Don't be such a weenie!" Laguna laughed. But he then turned around and saw how many they were up agaisnt.

"What the...!?

The first soldier lunged at them, Laguna noticed, and shot at him with his machine gun. Luckily, the soldier was attacking at close range. If he hadn't been, the bullets from Laguna's gun wouldn't have even pirced the strong Estarian uniform.

That soldier fell easily. But the other three stood poised to attack.

"Wasn't our mission just to patrol...?" Kiros asked nervously.

"Why does it have to turn out like this..." Ward thought aloud.

"Seriously...! I wasn't expecting this at all!" Laguna agreed.

The soldiers ran towards them.

Kiros ran at one soldier with his wristblades. They were called 'Katal'. He had a difficult time cutting through the uniform, esspcially when the soldier was fighting back.

Ward kept on swinging his harpoon and tossing it at the Estar soldiers. Soon, all of the Estar soldiers had been killed.

Laguna, Kiros, and Ward dusted themselves off. Laguna looked at the bodies of the Estar soldiers and sighed.

_"This is not what I had planned for my life..."_ he thought sadly.

_"What?! You're a soldier... what'd you expect...?"_ Squall thought.

They all heard a rumbling sound. Ward thought it might be more soldiers.

"There's more coming...?" he said.

"There's no end to this!" Kiros yelled.

"Better make a run for it!" Laguna called to his friends.

They ran along the metal walkway until they reached a ladder leading down to a cavern below. Laguna looked down.

Beneath the metal walk was what appeared to be an ice cavern. The cave's walls were a icy, transparent blue color.

The Estar Soldiers were aparently mineing for something down there.

_"I wonder what on earth would they find here...?"_ Laguna Thought.

_"Hmmm..." _Squall thought to himself. _"That makes two of us..."_

Quistis had calmed down at this point. She was before struggleing to speak, or move. But she began to accept that there was no way out of this odd situation right now.

_ "I hope this is a dream..." _she thought. 

Laguna, Ward and Kiros climbed down the ladder and into the cave. They saw metal pillars, and bits and pieces of machinery all over the place.

_ "Those Estar soldiers sure did a number on this place..."_ Ward thought. _"Whatever it is, anyway..."_

Quistis had to gather up all of her strength to not 'freak-out' now. Hearing his thoughts and being inside this man's body was becoming just too wierd.

The trio walk along the floor of the cave. Laguna was searching around, picking up bits and pices of small, metal objects, examining them with interest.

"Com'on, Laguna. Let's keep movin'..." Ward urged, looking back nervously.

As they tuned a corner, the group saw three hatches in the ground. They walked across the doors carefully.

As Laguna stepped on the second door pannel, he heard a noise.

*Creak!*

_"...?!"_

Laguna bent down to look. 

"(Hey! The latch on this door is loose...)" He whispered to himself. "...I know!" He said excitedly. "If we use this... Some stubborn Estar fool won't be able to come after us!"

Kiros eyed Laguna strangly. 

"What the heck are you up to?' he asked.

"Somethin' stupid again, I bet." Ward chimmed in.

Laghuna started with his 'Mr. cool' routine. He spoke in a cocky voice.

"You guys... You're gonna regret sayin' that. They say, 'One who makes fun of a genius will end up cryin' in the end.'."

"Kiros looked puzzled. Laguna was always misquoting stuff. It was horrible, esspecially for such a talented writer like Laguna, and Kiros could never figure out where he was 'quoting' it from.

"...So who's the genius...?" Ward mocked.

"Erghhhhhh! Just shut up!" Laguna yelled, losing his compusure. "ANYWAY! The lever for this hatch is broken." he started agin. "So if we just loosen it a bit more..."

Kiros understood now.

"When they come after us from that side and..."

"YES!" Laguna exclaimed. "Youuu guessed it! They'll walk over it without expecting a thing! Then, all of a sudden, WHOOPS!... And down they go."

Laguna smiled with pride,

"I have to admit... I really am a genius."

"Hah!" Ward laughed. "...Like the Estar soldiers are really gonna fall for this trap."

_ "HEY! They might..."_ Selphie thought, defending Laguna. She liked him. 

"We won't know until we try!" Laguna argued. "And those who never try will never know! So... I'm gonna do it!"

He realized something though.

"Uhhh... Just remeber, if we tamper with the lever, we won't be able to make it back to the other side... It'd be idiotic to fall for our own trap..." he warned.

Laguna walked over to the lever on the groud.

"So here goes... You guys, stand back."

Laguna put his fingers around the lever and twisted it loose. The door was just barely hanging on now.

"There!" Laguna said. "Lets go!"

_"That'll buy us some time..."_ he thought.

They ran further down the cavern and looked around. For an ice cavern, there sure was a lot of structure invovled. It didn't seem quite natural.

_"...Weird."_ thought Laguna. The cave wasn't really even _that_ cold. Though the walls looked sort of like ice, they _felt_ more like smooth stone, or even glass. 

***********************************************************************

An Estar soldier sudennly spotted the Galbadians from a distance. He ran towards Laguna, Kiros and Ward, but stopped right on the door that Laguna had loosened. He fell quickly.

"Aaaaaaggghhh...!"

Laguna and the others were too far down the cave to hear the soldier plummit. Laguna just hoped that his 'plan' had worked.

***********************************************************************

As they moved deeper into the cavern, they turned a corner and passed by a large boulder. Moving even further up, they saw another one, unmoved on the floor of the cave. Behind this boulder was a switch on the ground.

"The heck's this?" Laguna asked. "A blue and red switch, and two fuses...?"

Laguna looked at the device, perplexed.

Kiros rolled his eyes again.

"A detonator...? You know."

"Ohhhhh. I get it." Laguna replied. "The short blue fuse is for that boulder... and the long red fuse is for the boulder further down?"

Ward saw a look in Laguna's eyes that he didn't like.

"Hey man! Are you crazy!?" he yelled. "You don't even know how powerful that thing will be!"

Laguna just shrugged his shoulders.

"Ahh, I bet it's not all that. The detonator's right here, so as long as we stay behind it, we'll be all right."

"Well... I guess so..."

"Lets see..." Laguna began, already tampering with the device. He looked at the two switches and decided to try the red one.

"I'm gonna try this red one first..." Laguna informed them. "The bomb blast won't reach us here. Just stay put."

Laguna flipped the switch up. A loud boom rang throughout the cave. The boulder further down intensified the sound as it started rolling down the cavern. 

***--------------------------PLACE MARKER---------------------***

**(Sick of reading right now? Take a break, and find your spot right here when you come back to the story!)**

"W-W-W-WHAT??!!" Laguna exclaimed over the noise and rumbling of the boulder. 

"That was... awfully loud." Kiros said, taking his hands off of his ears.

"Lucky we were here..." Ward agreed.

"That's what I told you before!" Laguna said. "You should always check how powerful the thing could be..."

Ward interupted him.

"Wasn't that... me, who said that?" he said, folding his arms.

Laguna scratched his head nervously.

"...Uh...Ah...Hm.... Anyway, we're all still alive, right!?"

Ward and Kiros liked being around Laguna, he was fun. But he could be so dense sometimes. He often acted _really_ immature.

"Okay!" Laguna said. "Let's give the other one a try. I'll bet this will really put a cramp in those soldiers style..."

Laguna bent down again to flip the blue switch. He flipped it, and heard it start ticking.

"It's gonna blow! Run for it!!!"

The trio ran further down the cave quickly. Even Ward's heavy body ran faster than Kiros' or Laguna's.

Upon reaching a safe distance they waited for the blast. Nothing. Only a *click*.

_"What happened...?"_ Laguna thought.

"That was... awfully quiet." Kiors said, walking back down to the boulder.

"I was expecting a blast of somesort." Ward said.

The boulder started rolling down slowly. It had only taken a small detonation to move it.

"See! I told you! I told you it wan't all that powerful!" Laguna chidded.

Ward and Kiros shot knowing galnces at each other and began following Laguna down the cavern again. As they did, Laguna found something else to interest him. A little metal bit attached to a large rock, lodged in the wall.

"Hey what's this...?" Laguna said pressing on the device.

The boulder sudennly shook and fell down into a deep hole. The rumbling scared Ward and Kiros.

"Geez... You have to go around touching everything like a little kid, don't you?" Ward lectured him.

"Chill out a little, will ya...?" Kiros agreed.

"WHATEVER MAN!" Laguna yelled. "Thanks to ME, those Estar soldiers and that rock are history. It's like killing two pigs with one stone. I am just so awsome... Genius, I tell you..."

"Pigs?" Ward said.

"Don't you mean... birds?" Kiros corrected.

Laguna just ignored them and kept moving down the cave. He was still running with his back hunched over, thinking that he would avoid being seen that way.

_"I'm not just messing around... I'm sabatoging... uh... whatever it is they're doing down here..."_ Laguna thought.

They came into an area of the 'ice' cave that was no longer the bright tranparent blue that the rest of the cavern was. The far end was a stunning pink and orange reflection, leading into a green coloring. It was beautiful.

"Holy... " Laguna began. He couldn't finish his words. The sight was too much to describe.

"That sure is pretty..." Kiros said quietly.

Squall, Quistis and Selphie didn't know what to think. They watched in awe through Laguna, Ward, and Kiros' eyes at the spectacular colors.

"Let's keep movin'!" Laguna finally commanded. 

They ran out of the area into another typical part of the cave. If any of this odd place could be called 'typical'. 

They entered another portion of the cavern. It housed a staircase leading outside, so they followed it.

Laguna, Kiros, and Ward found themselves staring out into the ocean, on top of a rocky cliff. Before any of them had time to speak, they heard the footsteps of Estar soldiers following.

"Don't tell me..." Laguna whined.

"Of all the worst possible..." Kiros began.

"Predicaments?" Ward guessed.

They watched as what apeared to be two Estar soldiers approached them from the stairs.

_"Great... Now we're stuck between a cliff and Estar soldiers..."_ Kiros thought. _"I hope we can make it out of this..."_

Laguna looked at the soldiers strangly. They didn't move very naturally.

_"Waitaminute...!"_ Laguna realized. _"These aren't normal soldiers..."_

Estar soldiers usually wore a shiny silver outfit, marked by multi-colored designs, emblems of Estar. These soldiers matched the appearence of that, except that they were wearing all blue. Even their usually clear eyepices in the mask were a bright blue color.

Laguna recognized this as the mark of a cybernetic-soldier. An Estar cyborg.

_ "Oh no..." _

Kiros looked over at him, and mouthed the word.

"(Cyborgs...!?)"

Laguna nodded, nervously biting his bottem lip. 

The psuedo-soldiers began to attack quickly, with incredible precision. Laguna was able to get quite a few shots in, however, and Ward slashed at them with his harpoon. The cyborgs were strong, but not incrediably fast.

"You think we can fight these robots off!?" Kiros yelled at Laguna as he tried to slice through one of the cyborg's arms.

Laguna was about to open his mouth, but the cyborg he was fighting shot at him with it's Axe-bladed gun. 

"Arrhh!" Laguna yelled in pain. 

The bullet didn't pirce his flesh, but it was lodged in Laguna's uniform pretty well. Part of it might stab into him if he moved the wrong way. Galbadian uniforms had a lot of metal on them, and part of it was ramming right into Laguna's ribs. 

Kiros finally jabbed both of his Katal into the cyborg's gut. Wires and circuits were pulled out and the robot began buzzing strangly.

"What's it doing?" Ward asked. He had run the other 'soldier' through with his harpoon. It laid on the ground, impaled and unable to move.

"I don't know..." Kiros backed away.

Sudennly, the cyberbetic soldier ludged out past Laguna, knocking him down, and attacked Ward and Kiros with a swing from it's bladed weapon.

"Uhhhggrrhh..!" Ward and Kiros both cried out as they fell down. The attack had been charged with electrical impulses, and nearly killed them.

The robot fell over and blew out it's circuits. The glowing blue eyes darkened and the hum of it's mechanical innerards died down.

"Shit!" Laguna excalimed, looking at Kiros and Ward. 

This is what he was afraid of. When these Estar cyborgs were critically damaged, they had a deeply hidden backup system that unleashed an almost always fatal attack. Laguna hadn't heard of one soldier who'd surived an encounter with these Estar machines.

Ward and Kiros had surrvived, somehow, though. Laguna could see that. But he didn't know how badly they were injured. 

_"We'll have to start moving... If we stay here then we're all as good as dead, anyway.."_ he thought

Laguna crawled over to the edge of the cliff.

"Look, the ocean... We're saved!" he exclaimed. 

They could still escape.

"Lady luck is on our side! We can escape to Galbadia!!!" Laguna was starting to sound a little overly optomistic.

Kiros looked up. He was barly able to lift his head, but he managed to roll his eyes and speak.

"One would say we've been run down... That's what thery'd normally say..." his voice sounded weak, but Laguna could still hear the familiar sarcasam come through.

Laguna stood up. His uniform was still jabbing into him, and he was worn out. But he managed to keep smileing.

"Don't say that." he teased. "It might come true. Didn't your grandmother tell you that?"

Laguna walked over to Kiros, and squatted down.

"...If you say something bad... It will come true... Yeah, I think she did." Kiros responded.

Ward tried to laugh at this. But something was wrong.

"Ggghh... rrrhhh.."

"What'd you say?" Laguna responded. It sounded like words, but it came out in a gurgle.

"I think... his throat... was injured... He lost... his voice." Kiros slowly explained.

"It... wa...fu.. you..." Ward's babbleing could almost be understood now.

"Say again?" Laguna said.

_ "If Kiros is right... this might be the last thing Ward ever says... Dammit! This is so horrible..." _Laguna thought_. "...Whatever! We're going to get out of here..."_

Ward looked up at Laguna, half of his face was covered with blood.

"It...was...fun...you...guys..." Ward struggled to speak from his damaged throat.

"La...guna...Ki...ros... It...was...fun..."

Ward felt like death was creeping up on him. He was feeling weaker and weaker as each moment passed, and he was losing blood.

Laguna caught the disturbing meaning in his words. Ward was expecting to die here, but Laguna wouldn't stand for it.

"Ward, that's way uncool. It's not cool to say things like that."

Laguna bent down closer to his friend. He looked at Ward's injurys.

_"He's hurt... But they can both make it...."_ Laguna thought.

"Just for that, you're gettin' the Cuchi-Cuchi treatment!"

Laguna pinched Ward's shoulder hard, but playfully.

"How's that, huh!? Want more!? Well!?"

"......" 

Ward couldn't utter another word. His voice was gone now.

Laguna knew that they were both probably in a lot of pain, but as he checked them out, he didn't see anything that would kill them... Unless they stayed here. 

Laguna peered over the edge of the cliff to get a better look. What he saw surprised him.

"WHOA!!!" he excalimed. "Check it out, a boat! We're gettin' on!" he commanded.

"A...vessel... They'd..normally...call...it..."Kiros joked, weakly.

"Boat, vessel, whatever. We're going back to Galbadia!" Laguna demanded

Seeing that neither of them could really move just yet, Laguna decided to 'help them out'.

He grabbed Kiros by the arm, and helped him up. Then he tossed him over the edge, into the cold water below.

Next, he grabbed Ward by the arm,.

_"Umph! Boy Ward.... You're a bit too heavy for me to carrry..."_ Laguna thought. 

But he tossed Ward over the edge all the same

He looked down and saw that they were safely floating above the water.

"You guys... sure have guts." Laguna yelled down. "You know how high this cliff is...!?"

Laguna was going to try climbing down instead of just jumping. He was a little afraid of hights. But as he was crawling over the edge, he slipped.

"Oh sh...! Oh no! NO WAY!!!" 

He screamed all the way down.

_"Dammit!"_ Squall thought. _"This idiot is gonna get himself..."_

Everything went blank. Squall didn't hear Laguna's thoughts any more.

_ "What?! Did he..."_ Squall paused. He didn't know what it would mean for _him_ if Laguna had died...

_"What happened?" _

***********************************************************************

In the forest, Zell was pacing back and forth frantically. Quistis Squall, and Selphie still 'slept' on the ground. Rinoa stood there biting her bottem lip.

Zell had explined what he meant by 'dreamworld'. He told Rinoa all about what had happened on the train to Timber. Rinoa didn't know what to think about it, or even if she belived it. But she was getting scared.

_"Is this gonna happen to me and Zell, too...?"_ She wondered.

Sudennly, she looked over at Squall's seemingly lifeless body. He moved.

Rinoa gasped.

Then Quistis and Selphie started moving as well. Soon, all three awoke and stood up.

_"Ohh... My head..." _Squall thought. His forehead throbbed slightly. He wasn't sure if it was becasue of the 'dream' or if he had just fallen on his head when he passed out. 

Zell looked at them with a mixture of happiness, and confusion.

"Was it Laguna again?" Zell quickly asked.

"Sir Laguna's in BIG TROUBLE! I hope he'll be ok...!!!" Selphie replied excitedly.

Quistis, still jolted from the expirience, was puzzled by their familiarity with what had just happened.

"Doesn't seem like the first time for you all. What is this?" she asked.

Squall looked around. He didn't have an answer. None of them did.

_"If it were just me, I could tell the others it was only a crazy dream..."_ Squall thought. He wished that it was only a dream. But he realized it was much more than that, though he didn't know exactly what.

"We'll just be wasting our time trying to figure it." Squall said, trying not to think about this strange expirience.

"Let's keep going." 

"Yeah, let's go!" Zell agreed. "I think we're almost there."

Quistis, Selphie and Zell all started down the forest path. Leaving Rinoa and Squall near the entrance.

Rinoa walked over to him slowly and nervously.

"Umm... Squall..." she began. "I think I may have said too much. I'm sorry."

She felt bad about yelling at Squall earlier. Esspecially when he had just gone through _that_.

_"He's the leader here..."_ she thought. _"It's not my place to lecture him... at least not **that **much..."_

Squall simply gestured, signifying that it didn't bother him.

_ "Forget about it."_ he thought.

Rinoa seemed to understand. She smiled happily and walked off.

***********************************************************************

End chapter 12

I can't belive how close I'm getting to the end of the first disc! I think only about three or four more chapters and then I'll write a whole 'nother 15 or so for the next one!

Hope you Laguna fans are enjoying this. (There are some Laguna fans reading this, right?)

Next time we see Laguna will be on the first part of disk two. So enjoy this now... you won't see Laguna again for a while.

Anywayz, Rinoa's apology sure was sweet, wasn't it? If only Squall hadn't been such a jerk in the first place... At least he doesn't hold a grudge though...

This chapter was kind of lazily done. I've been sick lately and my mind is devoid of most coherent thought and/or creativity. (Plus I'm on a lot of weird medicine and antibiodics so that's not helping me write better... o.O)

okay folks R+R! (I know this chapter kinda sucks... but give it a review anyway... I promise that the next one will be better!)

Next up! Chapter 13; Galbadia Garden.

P.S. Chapter 13 contains a part that I'm gonna have kind of a weird love-hate relationship with... I get really jealous of Seifer at this part, but The entire scene is really dramatic. grrr... *sigh* and bein' half way out of my mind isn't helping this either... oh welll, stay tuned!

***********************************************************************

  



	14. Chapter 13: Galbadia Garden Announcment ...

**Chapter 13**

**Galbadia Garden; **

**Annoucement of a rival's end.**

  


About a mile outside of the forest was Galbadia Garden. Squall, Quistis, Zell, Selphie, and Rinoa could see the large, red structure from a long distance.

_ "We're almost there..."_ Zell thought. _"Oh man... I hope they've recived news about Balamb Garden..."_

Galbadia Garden held close ties with the Galbadian Military. Information was exchanged, and relations were kept peaceful, if a bit unsteady. Garden's were politically nuetral, though they resided within the territory of their respective coutries. But Galbadia Garden would be most likely to have information regarding Galbadia's actions, if any, agaisnt Balamb Garden.

Galbadia Garden was an impressive, and somewhat shocking sight to the group of Balamb SeeDs. Built in ther middle of a dry land, and surronded by canyon walls, Galbadia Garden's bright red frame shone clearly in the afternoon sun. It was slightly larger than its predececor, Balamb Garden, and, though modernized arcitecture was emphasized in the structure, it was shaped like an ancient collosium. 

As they entered the academy grouds, several single-man hover suits flew high above them. Two of the hover-crafts landed on the main walk. The loud engines hummed slowly and eventually died down.

Several of the students looked at Squall's group oddly. All of the students were wearing their cadet or SeeD uniforms, but Squall and the others were wearing their casual attire.

"Which academy are you from? You sure don't look like students from Galbadia Garden." one student approached the group.

"We're from Balamb." Quistis explained.

Galbadia garden's rules were slightly different then Balamb's. Galbadian students were required to wear their cadet or SeeD uniforms at _all_ times. Few student's had a class schedule that allowed for free time mid-day, So there were far less students gathered in the hall. Most were in classes all day long.

They entered Gardens first entrance and saw several student's walking around slowly. Squall heard a few of them talking quietly.

"I heard the sorceress is residing in the capital..."

"...Appointed as a 'peace' ammbasador..." 

_ "They probably knew about this situation before that broadcast..."_ Squall thought as he and the others walked along.

They finally made it too the Garden's main gate. Upon reaching the it, Selphie looked around.

"Wow... completly different..." she said, not sure if she liked it or not.

"Sure is quiet." Zell observed.

_ "It's nice."_ Squall thought. 

"...I like it." he said.

Rinoa giggled a little at this. She didn't mean to laugh at Squall, but she was just thinking how much he would probably enjoy something like this. A quiet, rule-enforced atmosphere. His response to Zell's comment was exactly what she had expected.

_"What's she laughing at...?"_ Squall wondered.

Quistis approached Squall. She knew he was, technically, the leader in this situation, but she had more expirience with Galbadia Garden's Headmaster.

"Could you leave this one up to me? she said. "I've been here several times, and I know the Headmaster pretty well."

Squall simply nodded. He knew that it would be much more appropriate for her to address the Headmaster, than it would be for him to. Quistis had been a SeeD longer, and on top of that, she had met the Headmaster previously.

Quistis nodded back and walked through the gate.

"I'll go and explain our situation." she said. She walked off to speak with Headmaster Martine.

Selphie, who hadn't been paying much attention, was still gawking at the strange looks and feeling of this Garden.

"It's totally different than Trabia or Balamb Garden..." she said.

Squall entered the front gate to have a look around. Selphie was right. It was very different from Balamb garden. Most of the students in the hall were either studying or being trained by an instructor. 

Everyone else was in class. 

The group walked past and saw several students in the hall doing push-ups.

_"And I thought Balamb Garden was strict..."_ Zell thought. Zell loved Garden, but it was a struggle at times for him to remain _that_ disiplined. He couldn't imagine what it would be like here.

_"I wish Balamb Garden was this strict..."_ Squall thought.

After they had explored the Grounds for a few minutes, a voice came in from the P.A. system.

"Attention; SeeD party from Balamb. Please wait in the 2nd floor reception room."

_ "That was quick..."_ Rinoa thought. _"They must be really efficient..."_

Rinoa had never been to a Garden. Though she gathered from Selphie's comments that the other academys were somewhat different than this one, the stern, strict atmosphere made her feel uneasy and out of place. Everything seemed so rigid and restrictive. 

Squall led them further into the Garden until he stopped an instructor to ask him where the reception room was.

"The reception room in the first room up those stairs." 

He pointed up the hallway.

Squall led everyone up the stairs and saw the door to the reception room. A guard was standing at attention next to it.

"This is the reception room. Please wait until you hear from the master." The guard said to them.

The doors opened with a loud swoosh. Squall, Zell, Selphie and Rinoa entered a large room, with two couches and a glass coffe table sitting in the middle. Selphie went over to the window. It overlooked the inner parts of the Garden.

"I wonder if they have a Garden festival here too..." Selphie said aloud.

Squall sat down on one of the couches, and Rinoa tried to innitiate some conversation.

"So Quistis attended classes here?" she asked.

Squall didn't pay attention to her. He put his hand to his forehead, thinking.

_ "I wonder what the Headmaster will say... We seem to be in a pretty tough situation here..."_

With what had just happened in Timber, there was a very good chance of Garden taking full blame for the assault. Squall, Zell, and Selphie might have been held esspecially responsible, along with Seifer.

_"Why is he ignoring me...? Oh. He's thinking..."_ Rinoa realized, still feeling nervous about being in the Garden. 

Zell, sitting across from Squall, was tapping his feet nervously.

"How long are they gonna make us wait...?" he wondered.

Just then, the doors to the reception room swooshed open, and Quistis entered the room.

Squall walked up to her.

"How'd it go?" 

"They understand our situation." Quistis replied. Then she walked over to Zell, smileing. She lowered her face down to meet his.

"And Balamb Garden is safe."

Zell stood up in surprise. 

"_Yeah, baby..."_ he thought happily.

Quistis turned her attention to everyone now.

"The attack on the president in Timber was classified as an independent action." she annonced. "There was an official notice from the Galbadian government saying that Balmb Garden is not being held responsible."

Zell breathed a sigh of relife. This was the news he had been waiting for. 

_"Well, that means that we're off the hook then..."_ Squall thought. _"What about Seifer, though...?"_

"So, Seifer's taking all the blame?" Zell asked.

Quistis expression changed from one of relife to one of uneasiness.

"The trial's over, and the sentence had been carried out..." Quistis replied, a little too hastely.

_ "What?!"_ Zell thought. He looked at her strangly. _"She **didn't** just say that Seifer was...!!? ...Did she...?"_

Everyone else turned to stare at her, too. They were shocked.

Rinoa's eyes widened in surprise. 

_ "Seifer? ...Dead!!?"_

"...He was executed?" she said, squatting down to the floor.

She lowered her head, thinking.

"...Of course he was. He attacked the president." she realized, sadly. "He sacraficed himself for the 'Forest Owls'..." 

Quistis walked over to Rinoa.

"It was your group that got Seifer involved in all this." Quistis began. 

Rinoa turned away. She felt like crying.

"You're a resitance faction, right? You must have been prepared for the worst."

_"No... "_ Rinoa thought._ "Not like this..."_

"I'm sure Seifer was prepared, too." Quistis tried to make her feel better. "So, don't think of it as Seifer sacraficing himself for you."

Quistis was trying to be consoling, but the news had shocked her, too. She couldn't express her feelings correctly, and seemed like she was lecturing. She quickly realized how her words must've sounded.

"I'm sorry. I guess that wasn't much consolation." Quistis said, sitting down. She shook her head, ashamed at herself for saying such insensitaive-sounding things.

_ "Nice going, Quistis... You've probably just made her feel worse..." _she thought.

A long silence pervaded the room. No one knew what to say.

Even Squall, who had been the first to realize that Seifer may be executed, wasn't truly prepared for this news. Despite his matter-of-fact attitude about the result of Seifer's actions, he had never really expected Seifer to _die_. He never took the idea as seriously as it had sounded. None of them had, esspecially not Rinoa. But now it had happened. No 'ifs' or 'maybes' involved. Seifer was dead.

More silence. Everyone's thoughts turned to Seifer.

"You really hated Seifer, didn't you, Zell?" Selphie's obnoxious voice came in. She didn't know exactaly what to say, but she couldn't stand the uncomfortable silence. 

"Yeah, but..." Zell began. He couldn't help but feel bad now. "He was from Garden... He was one of us." Zell lowered his head, and shook his fists. 

"If I can, I wanna get revenge."

Selphie didn't know Seifer all that well, she had only just met him the other day.

"Kinda sad..." her voice trailed off. She didn't know quite how to feel either.

"I didn't like the guy, but executed...?" Zell continued. "...That...bastard..."

Quistis remembered everything she had gone through with Seifer. None of it was a pleasent expirience.

"I don't have any good memories of him." she started. "I've seen troubled children, but he was beyond troubled." 

Quistis and Seifer were always butting heads. As students, they fought often and had to be seperated by instructors and Garden staff all of the time for their disruptive arguments, most of which had been instigated by Seifer. When Quistis became his instructor, it made things even more tense between the two. Except _then_ Seifer was her student, and had to watch his tounge. If he didn't, he would be disiplined by the Garden staff _severly_ for showing disrespect to an instructor. He seemed to still find ways to irritate Quistis from time to time, however.

Quisits stopped to think about what she was saying and thinking, though. Even though they had never been friendly, her words sounded pretty cruel. She didn't like Seifer at all, but then again, she didn't really _hate _him.

"Well, he wasn't really a bad guy." she said.

Rinoa stood there, her back turned, and her head lowerd. She listened to everyone's thoughts about Seifer, but her memories were different. It hurt to have people saying things like this about him.

"I... really liked him." Rinoa finally said."He was always full of confidence, smart..."

Everyone looked at her, surprised that anyone would have such good memories of Seifer.

"Just by talking to him, I felt like I could take one the world."

Rinoa realized that Seifer could have an abrasive personality, but he had _never_ treated her badly. He was always ready to encourage her, and make her feel stronger. Despite his all-to obvious flaws, his temper and his cocky attitude, Rinoa always looked for the good in him, and she seemed to find it with ease.

Selphie had heard enough from Rinoa, and from the 'Forest Owls' earlier, to guess what Rinoa's realtionship to Seifer was.

"Your boyfriend?" she asked softly.

Rinoa turned, and smiled a little with a tear in her eye.

"I don't really know." she began. "I... I _think_ I was in love." she said, her voice shaky, and a little unsure. "I wonder how he felt...?"

"Do you still like him?" Selphie asked.

"If I didn't, I wouldn't be talking about it." Rinoa replied wiping a tear from her cheek.

Rinoa sat down on the couch and pulled her knees close to her chest.

"It was last summer..." she explained. "I was 16. Lots of fond memories..."

Seifer had taken some vacation time in Timber last year. That's where he'd met Rinoa. Though he never participated in the 'Forest Owls' operations, he spent a lot of time with her, and he always encouraged Rinoa to 'give em' hell' when they fought agaisnt Galbadia. 

Seifer liked Rinoa. They had even shared an intimate expirence or two that summer. But neither of them had ever told the other that they wanted to 'date'. Seifer just assumed that the feelings were mutual. However, his ego wouldn't allow him to talk seriously about something so emotional, and Rinoa has been a little too shy to ask him about it. She'd never had a boyfriend before.

The announcment of Seifer's execution shocked her. But Rinoa's eyes brightened as she thought back on the time she had spent with him last summer.

_"Goodbye, Seifer..." _she thought. 

Quistis didn't know how to feel about Rinoa's comments. She lowered her voice to an audible whisper.

"Seifer... Never to become a SeeD..."

Everyone was quiet now. No one knew what to say anymore.

Squall shook his head, disturbed by everyones comments.

_"'I **liked** him'... '**wasn't** really a bad guy'... 'He **was** one of us'..."_

Squall traced his finger along the scar his rival had given him.

_ "Seifer... You've become just a memory."_

The way everyone was talking made Squall feel uncomfortable. He had known Seifer for as long as he could remember, and now he was gone. It didn't feel right. All that was left of Seifer was these people's thoughts and memorys of him. Anymore, he was only what they'd said he had been.

An unsettleing thought occured to Squall.

_ "Will they... Will they talk about me this way if I die, too? 'Squall was this and that', using past tense, saying whatever they **want**?"_

Squall put his hand to his hip, and looked down at the floor.

_"So this is what death is all about..."_

He walked over to the door. Squall began to feel a sudden rush of powerful emotions entering his mind.

_"...Not for me."_ he thought. _"I won't have it!!!"_

Squall wanted badly to fight agaisnt death now. He didn't want to let anyone talk about how he, 'used to be', or what he, 'used to do'. The idea of merely being a resident of the past, never again to live in the present or look towards the future, frightened and upset him all at once.

Quistis noticed Squall's expression. His usual frown was intensified. He didn't just look irriated or annoyed now. He looked saddened and angry. 

"What's wrong, Squall?" she asked.

He glared at her.

"I won't have it!" he yelled sudennly.

Everyone turned to look at him.

"W-What?" Zell said, confused.

Selphie ran over to Squall, concerned.

"Are you MAD!?"

Squall backed away towards the door.

"I'm not having anyone talk about me in the past tense!" he cried out.

Zell was about to try and calm him down, but Squall ran out of the room before anyone could reply.

After a long pause, Rinoa spoke with concern.

"What's _wrong_ with him...?" Rinoa asked. "Will he be okay...?"

Quistis looked at the door, confused. Squall had never been that emotional. _Never_.

_"...I don't know... I really don't..."_

***********************************************************************

***--------------------------PLACE MARKER---------------------***

**(Sick of reading right now? Take a break, and find your spot right here when you come back to the story!)**

In the empty hallway, irrational thoughts swirled through Squall's mind.

_"Not for me..." _he thought. _"Not death... I won't end up like Seifer..."_

He marched down the stairs. Squall felt his eyes begin to water, but he fought the urge to cry with all his strength. He had already made a scene, he realized, in the reception room. He wasn't going to let himself 'sob like an idiot' _now_.

As Squall made his way to the Garden's main hallway, he heard someone calling his name.

"Yo! Squall!"

Squall looked up. Above the stairs, he saw two people that he had never expected to meet here.

_"How on earth did they get here...?"_

Fujin and Raijin, Seifer's 'posse', came down the stairs quickly when they saw Squall.

"What are you doing here?" Squall asked in surprise.

"What am I doin'? I'm a messenger, ya know?" Raijin replied.

He looked over to Fujin, and they both nodded.

"Brought you a new order from Headmaster Cid, ya know?"

He nodded at his sister again.

"What kind of order?" Squall asked impatiently.

Raijin shrugged his shoulders.

"I dunno. Gave it to the head honcho here. Just did what Headmaster Cid wanted, ya know?"

Again, Fujin and Raijin nodded at each other.

"EXPLAIN." Fujin commanded, in her usual manner.

"We were suppose' ta go to Timber." Raijin began again. "But the trains have stopped, so we had no other choice but to come here. Kinda relived to see you guys here."

Again, they nodded.

Fujin looked around.

"SEIFER?" she asked.

"Oh yeah! Wasn't Seifer with you?" Raijin chimmed in.

Squall sighed.

"I belive Seifer may be dead..."

Fujin gasped and put her hand to her chest.

"I heard he was tried in Galbadia and then executed..."

Fujin glared at Squall now.

"LIES!" she exclaimed.

Raijin, oddly enough, started laughing.

"BWAHAAHAAHAA! That's gotta be a lie, ya know!? There's no way he's put up with a trial, ya know!?"

_ "That actaually makes sense..." _Squall thought to himself. He couldn't picture Seifer just sitting there, waiting for his judgment. But Quistis had told him what happened. Seifer was gone.

Raijin continued.

"Or an execution for that matter! It's just so not Seifer, ya know!?"

"FIND!" Fujin exclamied.

"O'What...! We're gonna meet up with Seifer?" Raijin asked. He turned to Squall.

"Well, see ya Squall. We're gonna head off to Galbadia to look for Seifer."

Fujin and Raijin raced off.

_"...Whatever."_ Squall thought, shaking his head. _"He's dead. They're gonna have to accept it sooner or later..."_

Squall walked around Galbadia Garden on his own for a while. Thoughts raced in and out of his head.

_"Why would Headmaster Cid give orders to Fujin and Raijin...? They aren't even SeeDs... Why are they so sure that Seifer's not dead...? He is dead. Right...?"_

Sudennly, Squall's thoughts were innterupted. The Garden P.A. system sounded again.

"Attention SeeD party from Balamb garden. Please assemble at the front gate." 

_ "Guess I'd better get going..." _Squall thought. He didn't want to show his face after his emotional outburst in the reception room, but he had to go.

He lingered a little bit, but he found his way to the front gate. Quistis was waiting there.

"Ok, it's time to meet. Let's go." she said. She wanted to ask Squall if she could do anything for him, or if he was okay. But she was sure she knew what the answer would be...

_"'Not really'. 'It's none of your buisness'..."_ Quistis thought about Squall's usual responces, and remebered how he had acted in the 'secret area' last night.

_"Better just let him be..."_ Quistis realized. 

***********************************************************************

On the Garden's front walk, Zell, Selphie, Rinoa, Quistis and Squall all waited for the Garden Headmaster to meet them. Squall and Rinoa were sitting on the railing of a fence, calmly, but Quistis was pacing about frantically.

"Let's just wait here." Quistis said, partly to herself. "The Master should be coming with the orders soon."

Zell and Selphie were getting really impatient.

"Erghhh..." Zell mumbled. He started to practice sparing again, hoping around and hitting the air.

"He's pretty late..." Selphie complained.

Sudennly, a car started driving up from the front gate. Rinoa caught sight of it.

"Oh! I think that's him." she said. She leaned over to Squall and whispered.

"(Just pretend I'm a SeeD too. It'll be less complicated that way.)"

_ "....Whatever."_ Squall thought._ "Client's orders..."_

The car pulled closer and Headmaster Martine stepped out. Squall and the others lined up and stood at attention, saluting him.

"Good day." the Headmaster addressed them. "I have official orders from headmaster Cid, addressed to you." he explained. "Following regualtions, I have gone over these orders." He began pacing back and forth.

The Headmaster carried his authority well, even if it seemed a little arogant.

"After careful consideration of our options, we have decided to fully assist and cooperate with Headmaster Cid." He paused. "Actually, we too, have been planning for this for quite some time now."

He stopped pacing and looked directly at the SeeD members.

"In order to stress the importance of this mission, I must first brief you on the current situation." he began. He stopped and noticed that they were still standing in line and at attention.

"At ease." he commanded. The SeeD members, and Rinoa, stood more relaxed now.

"You all know about the sorceress being appointed as the peace ammbassador for the Galbadian government. However, this ambassador thing is just a cover up. there will be no peace talks, only threats."

He eyed the young SeeDs carefully. He wanted to make sure they understood the signifigance of this.

"The sorceress creates fear among people. Therefore, peace talks are immpossible. Galbadia is planning to use this fear to negotiate favorable conditions for itself. It is clear that Galbadia's ultimate goal is world domination." He paused again. "Garden is no exception, either. It is a fact that the sorceress is planning to use this Garden as her base... We have very few options available to us."

He looked at the group before him, and sighed. 

"We entrust world peace, and the future to you." he said proudly.

Everyone saluted the Headmaster.

"Details of the mission are enclosed in these official orders." He handed Squall the document containing the mission order.

"Any questions?"

Squall looked over the order quickly. He hadn't fully digested it yet, but he spotted somthing that might be a problem.

"The orders say by means of 'a sniper'."... We have no one with that skill." Squall informed the Headmaster.

"Don't worry about it." Headmaster Martine assured him. "Let me introduce an elite sharpshooter from Galbadia Garden." He turned around and yelled.

"Kinneas! Irvine Kinneas!"

A tall young man with a cowboy hat was lying in the grassy yard surronding the walkway. He didn't seem to notice that the Headmaster had called his name at first.

Irvine had his finger pointed upward. A small butter fly landed on it, and he held his hand very steady. Then he moved it quickly, 'shooting' the insect with his finger. Irvine Kinneas stood and picked his gun up with him, smirking as he walked over. Wearing a long fur lined coat and raw-hide pants, Irvine looked just like a cowboy. He stood at about 6 feet tall, and had light brown hair. 

"This is Irvine Kinneas. He will be your sharpshooter." Martine informed them."Leave whenever you're ready." He started walking back to the car.

"Failure is not an option." he warned, and then he turned his back, walking to the car again.

Irvine turned around and cocked his hand at the Headmaster.

"BANG!" he yelled, pretending to shoot him.

After the headmaster had left, everyone circled around Squall.

"So what's our new orders?" Zell asked. 

"Our next mission..." Squall began. "This is no ordinary mission. It's a direct order from both Balamb and Galbadia Garden." he paused.

"We're to... ..Assassinate the sorceress."

Everyone became quiet.

_ "Yikes..."_ Selphie thought. _"That's kind of a scary order..."_

"We're to shoot her from afar. Kinneas will be our sharpshooter. We're to supprot Kinneas to our fullest."

Squall walked over to Irvine.

"Should the sniper fail, we are to attack head on."

Irvine looked at Squall and smirked.

"Thanks for the support, but I never miss my target."

His voice was smooth, but he spoke with extreme arrogance. Squall ignored his cocky comments.

"Eliminate the sorceress. That's our order. We're going to head to the capital of Galbadia, Deling City. There, we'll meet up with General Caraway to go over the details for the plan."

Rinoa's ears perked up at this.

_"General Caraway...? What does he have to do with this...? Why would he work with SeeD agaisnt the president...?"_ she thought.

Squall finished reading the mission breifing and looked at everybody.

"Let's get going." he said.

"Well then..." Irvine began. "We'll need to split up for the trip to Deling city... two groups..."

Irvine pulled Selphie and Rinoa over to him.

"How's this?" he asked, smileing ear to ear.

Selphie and Rinoa looked at each other questioningly.

_"What does he think he's doing..."_ Squall thought.

"I'll decide." Squall commanded. " I guess if we have to split into groups... Irvine, you come with me and..." Squall paused.

_"We're still under contract with Rinoa and the 'Forest Owls'..."_ Squall thought. _"She'd better stay close to me..."_

"Rinoa, you come with me. So that means, Zell, Selphie and Quistis will follow us. Okay?"

"Excellent choice 'Mr. Leader'." Irvine said, eyeing Rinoa as he tugged on his earring.

_"...Whatever."_ Squall thought. 

Everyone agreed and set out. 

The squad of SeeDs left Galbadia Garden in two groups. Their next objective; To kill Galbadia's newly appointed ambassador... The sorceress.

***********************************************************************

End chap 13.

Well? What do you you think? Squall actually lets his feelings out a little eh? How about that. Now he'll just revert to being a jerk again... probably.

N-e- way, the part that I didn't like writng was when Rinoa was describing her and Seifer's relationship. (I REALLY can't wait until the story reaches the point where Squall and Rinoa start falling for each other...)

So Seifer's dead. Roadkill. six-feet under, etc... uhhh....

boo-hoo. So sad.... 

...Or IS he really dead?! Fujin andf Raijin don't seem to think so... I guess we'll find out, won't we? 

I really never liked Irvine, by the way. He's a womanizer at first and then he's a wimp, and then he starts trying to manipualte people... *sigh* At least he has an important role later on. What do you think about him so far? Maybe I'll learn to appriciate him later on or something... (Yeah, right.)

  


Was this chapter okay? I'm starting to feel like I'm not doing a very good job on some of these chapters, and that I'm relying too much on the script in the game, and not enough on my own injections... What do you think? Is there room for more depth or have I dug too far already?

Is the writing quality starting to lag? ...Please tell me!

  


R+R!

P.S. How the heck are you supossed to explain 'switching party members' corectly? There are some parts in the game where it makes sense, but mostly you just do it for no apparent reason. (Ok! In the game you can only have three people in your group at a time, but that doesn't make 'real-world' sense!)

P.S.S. Okay, I'm having a small debate with my cousin here. He thinks that Raijin's name is pronounced RYE-GIN (Like a long 'I' sound in the 'YE'.) and I think it's pronounced RAGE-IN (Like a long 'A' sound)

Also,_ he thinks_, 'SeeD' is pronounced, 'See- Dee', as in how you would say 'CD'. Whereas _I think_ it's merely pronouced 'Seed', as in the thing that grows flowers....

Which is it? I'll bet someone out there knows for sure... (Actually, no matter what you say, I'm still gonna think it's 'RAGE-IN'.and 'Seed'. ^_^)

*********************************************************************** 


	15. Chapter 14: Deling city part I

  


  


**Chapter 14**

**Deling City, part 1; **

**The Tomb of the unknown King.**

  


  


Squall led Irvine and Rinoa to the train station near Galbadia Garden. Everybody had decided that the quickest route to Deling city was by train.

  


The Galbadia Garden train station took up only a small area. It wasn't really even a complete station. For the most part, only Garden students used this train stop, and used it only to commute to and from Deling city. 

  


Upon reaching the station, Squall noticed many Garden students lounging around, or standing in a group talking. He knew that the school day had not yet ended, so these students were either skipping class or going home early. 

  


_"I guess everybody finds ways out of class at every Garden..." _Squall thought with disdain.

  


Squall ran up the stairs to the train tracks and found a conductor.

  


"Is this train bound for Deling city?" Squall asked.

  


The conductor looked at him oddly. He didn't recognize Squall or Rinoa, but he had seen Irvine once or twice before.

  


"Yes. It's 1,000 Gil per ticket." The conductor replied. "Are you getting on?"

  


"Yeah. Three tickets please."

  


Squall exchanged his Gil and led Rinoa and Irvine onto the train. They walked into the back entrance area and looked around. It seemed that Quistis, Zell, and Selphie hadn't arrived yet.

  


_"Selphie's gonna want that door open..." _Squall remembered. He didn't want her to throw a fit trying to get inside the train's hallway, like last time.

  


"Confirming... Access granted..." the computer bleeped as Squall inserted the ticket.

  


"Haven't we left yet?" Rinoa asked impatiently. 

  


_"We'd better not..."_ Squall thought. _"We still have to wait for Quistis and the others."_

  


Irvine stood in the corner, thinking aloud.

  


"Selphie, Rinoa, Quistis... I don't know which one to choose..."

  


_"Oh brother..."_ Squall thought. He looked at Rinoa to see if she had heard Irvine's comment, but she seemed oblivious.

  


_"This guy's going to get on my nerves really quickly."_ Squall thought. _"I know Zell isn't gonna like him..."_

  


Squall walked over to the door to see if Quistis and the others were coming. Just as he did, Zell walked through the door.

  


Squall stood back, surprised a little, and watched Quistis and Selphie walk through the door as well.

  


Selphie walked over to the hallway entrance immediately and started waving her hands around. The door opened quickly, though.

  


Selphie turned around and smiled at Squall.

  


"Hee!" she giggled. "You caught on!" And she ran into the hall to stare out the window.

  


The train announcer came on the speakers.

  


"This train, bound for Deling city, will be departing shortly." The voice said as the train engines started. The car started shaking violently, but calmed after a moment.

  


After the train had steadied itself, everyone was quiet. They had a lot on their minds.

  


Finally, Rinoa couldn't stand the silence anymore.

  


"This is the only train bound for Deling city anyway." she said, trying to get someone to talk. But everyone seemed to ignore her. Rinoa began to feel distant from everyone, as they quietly prepared their minds for the mission. She wasn't used to things being so rigid. 

  


Irvine started staring at the door that Selphie had gone through. He seemed to be lost in thought as well, but, unlike the others, he had an odd smirk on his face.

  


"Hmmm..." he said aloud. "Perhaps it's fate?" 

  


Irvine walked through the door, into the hallway, and it closed quickly behind him.

  


After Irvine had left, Zell spoke up with irritation.

  


"So what do we do about HIM?" he said finally. Zell had taken an immediate, and profound dislike to Irvine Kinneas.

  


Rinoa didn't know what to think of Irvine yet, but he seemed to be rubbing everyone else the wrong way. He acted kind of funny around the other girls and herself... A little bit too interested.

  


Rinoa turned to Squall.

  


"Shouldn't you go check on Selphie?" she asked with concern.

  


Quistis found herself agreeing with Rinoa. She, too, thought that someone should make sure that Irvine wasn't bothering Selphie.

  


"...Irvine just kind of went off... Shouldn't you check?" 

  


Everyone, even Zell looked at Squall. They were relying on him, and Squall didn't like it.

  


_"What is this? All of a sudden I'm Selphie's body guard...?"_ Squall thought, irritated. _"Why are they making **me** check on her...?" _

  


But Squall had a funny feeling about Irvine too. He didn't want their sharpshooter to be causing any trouble.

  


Squall started walking towards the door. Zell yelled at him before he went through.

  


"I don't want that Irvine guy using the guest room. Don't open it for him!" Zell urged.

  


Squall rolled his eyes.

  


_"Why are they getting so worried? What does everybody think that he's gonna do....?"_ Squall stopped his thought, and finally realized what they were concerned about. 

  


_"Oh... That. I guess he does seem a little... too friendly..."_

  


Squall walked through the door and immediately saw Irvine and Selphie at the far end of the hall.

  


"Selphie... We're destined to be together!" Irvine pleaded in an overly dramatic voice.

  


Selphie raised an eyebrow and replied nervously.

  


"Y-Yeah right...!" she said, attempting to be sarcastic.

  


Selphie cleared her throat and sighed.

  


"A sigh of love?" Irvine responded.

  


"N-No!" Selphie shouted nervously. 

  


Irvine was making her feel really uncomfortable. This guy had just met her, and was already hitting on her. 

  


Irvine sighed, disappointed, and walked towards the door.

  


"Pardon me..." he said politely, walking past Squall.

  


_"What does he think he's doing...? He doesn't even know Selphie..."_

  


Squall walked over to the nervous young girl.

  


"You okay?" 

  


"My heart's pounding... What is this I'm feeling?"

  


Selphie's cheery smile turned into a worried frown. She placed her hand to her chest, feeling her heart beat nervously.

  


Squall knew that she was probably referring to Irvine's odd behavior, but he didn't want to try and console her about it... That was too emotional of a topic. 

  


So he tried to change the subject.

  


_"She's probably just jittery about the mission..." _Squall excused.

  


"It's an important mission. Get used to handling pressure while you still can." he offered.

  


Selphie lowered her head and sighed. Squall had no idea how she was feeling. His 'consolation' didn't help at all.

  


"How much longer 'til Deling city?" she said impatiently.

  


Squall decided to let her be alone. He walked out of the hall without responding.

  


As he reached the door, Squall saw that Irvine had cornered Rinoa now.

  


"Rinoa...!" Irvine began excitedly, in the same tone he had used with Selphie.

  


Rinoa became a little 'freaked out' and ran over to hide behind Quistis. She didn't appreciate how forward this guy was being, at all.

  


"Irvine Kinneas! You're playing a major role in this mission. Now behave yourself!" Quistis scolded him.

  


Irvine glared at her. Everyone was quiet for a moment.

  


"No one understands me..." he said suddenly.

  


Irvine walked over to the far corner of the car, tipping his hat down to hide his eyes.

  


"Sharpshooters are loners by nature...We hone our instincts, pour our whole being into a single bullet."

  


_"What is he talking about...?"_ Squall thought. _"...Probably just trying to get the girls' attention... Oh well... Whatever."_

  


Irvine began pacing about slowly.

  


"The pressure of the moment... An instant of tension... That's what... I have to face alone..." he said. 

  


"It's not easy."

  


Irvine turned his face away from everyone now.

  


"So, like... Just do me a favor, and let me be!"

  


He turned around, and pointed at Zell.

  


"You get my drift?" he said.

  


_"Dammit..."_ Zell thought. _"Who does he think he is...?"_

  


Zell slammed his fist onto the floor of the train angrily, and squatted down. Suddenly the lights on the train flickered, and the train shook violently. The train announcer came on the P.A. system.

  


"Uhh... There was no damage to the train from that, err, minor vibration..." he said nervously.

  


"I repeat... Err, there was no damage to that train from that err, minor vibration..."

  


***********************************************************************

  


The train reached Deling city just as the sun started to set. The locomotive stopped, and the group of SeeDs dismounted. They climbed onto the train station's escalator, which led up the the main street level of Deling city. 

  


Steam rose steadily from the storm drains, and onto the streets of Deling. Because of the cool night air, a small layer of cloud covered the concrete, as the warm fog continued rising from beneath the road.

  


As they came up the escalator, Rinoa ran ahead. She caught sight of the large golden-colored archway off in the distance, one of Deling city's most prominent landmarks.

  


The young freedom fighter looked on at the city oddly. Many flags lined the streets, and other symbols of Galbadia were placed everywhere. Emblems hanging off buildings, and designs in the architecture showed the symbols of Galbadian pride. It was a little unsettling for her, but she seemed to look upon the town with a strange familiarity.

  


"Wow..." Irvine exclaimed. As a Garden student and resident, Irvine rarely had time to visit Deling city. He looked on at the street lights, and the brightly colored decorations that had been prepared all over town. Blue spot lights hit the evening sky, piercing through the clouds.

  


_"They've really decorated this place up for the sorceress..."_ Irvine thought.

  


"...Awesome." Selphie agreed.

  


Quistis breathed heavily. She was tired and frustrated.

  


"Quite a long walk..." she exclaimed, wondering how far they would have to go to reach the General's mansion.

  


Rinoa sighed as she looked at the city.

  


"We're going to Caraway's mansion, right? Just take the 08 bus." she casually informed them.

  


Deling city possessed an excellent public transport system, busses which ran throughout the city round the clock. People were impressed more by the fact that Deling had need for a bus route, though, than the bus system itself. Deling city was quite large.

  


Irvine looked over at Rinoa with surprise. How did she know which bus to take?

  


_"She must've been here before..."_ he thought. _"...Nice... A 'traveling' girl..."_

  


"Exactly. You're pretty familiar with this place." Irvine commended slyly.

  


"We're going there already?" Selphie complained to Rinoa. "Don't you wanna check out the city?"

  


_"That might be good."_ Squall thought. He folded his arms, thinking. _"It'd be nice to know a little about our battle field before we start."_

  


Squall considered this for a moment, but then he remembered that this was the hometown of none other than Laguna Loire, Kiros seagall, and Ward Zabac...

  


_"Maybe Laguna's back from his duties... But what do I do if I see him...?"_

  


Squall wasn't sure what he would do. The whole situation with them 'dreaming' was so strange, and the thought of meeting any of these Galbadian soldiers made Squall feel even more uncomfortable.

  


_"What if we have to fight them...?"_

  


Squall didn't like the sound of that at all. No. It would be better to just get the mission over with as soon as possible without anything or any_one_ to complicate the situation.

  


"We should go see General Caraway first..." Squall replied.

  


Selphie was disappointed, but she nodded in agreement. Rinoa pointed down to the street corner.

  


"There's a bus stop right there. The '08' bus will come by that corner."

  


Quistis frowned, and raised an eyebrow at this. Rinoa's familiarity with the city was puzzling to her, especially since Rinoa was a resistance member in Timber. It would've been pretty dangerous for her to be walking around freely in the middle of the Galbadian capitol... So how did she know how to get to the general's house?

  


"You seem to know this place well..." Quistis said. "How?" she asked in a suspicious tone.

  


Rinoa looked over at Quistis and answered, a bit nervously.

  


"... I'm Galbadian."

  


"Oh really?" Quistis replied, surprised. "You seem to have quite a story..."

  


Squall was a little shocked to hear this as well, but he knew that they needed to get moving.

  


_"Let's not talk about that here..."_ he thought, frowning. _"We need to concentrate on the mission, now..."_

  


Zell noted Squall's expression.

  


"What's wrong, Squall?" he asked.

  


Squall looked up at Zell, and then to the whole group. He decided to make sure everyone understood the situation completely. He didn't want any 'mishaps' to put them in an even more dangerous situation, like Zell had done at the Timber TV station earlier.

  


"We're heading for Caraway's mansion. It's in the government district. We're here as back up from Galbadia Garden. Don't blow our cover."

  


Zell hung his head sadly, and sighed at this, remembering his earlier mistake. But he assured himself that he would not make that error again. 

  


Everyone seemed to understand. Squall sighed, satisfied that they all comprehended the importance of keeping a low profile. He took another look at the city before him.

  


_"So, this is where Laguna's from..."_ Squall thought. _"I wonder if he's here now...?"_

  


They walked off of the steps down to the street below. In the middle of the street was a large, beautiful fountain. The splashes from it echoed across the street.

  


Squall recognized the area well from his first 'dream' with Laguna.

  


_"This is pretty weird... feels almost like I've really been here before..."_ he thought.

  


Squall, Rinoa, Irvine, Quistis, Selphie and Zell walked to a bus stop and boarded the number '08' bus, just as Rinoa had said. The large vehicle drove quickly down the street and soon reached General Caraway's mansion.

  


Squall started to focus his mind on the mission.

  


_"Caraway is the head of the Galbadian army.... Could this be a coup d' etat?"_ Squall thought as they pulled up to the stop. _"No... I don't think he's out to overthrow the president..."_

  


After dismounting the bus, the six teenagers all moved up to the front walk of General Caraway's mansion. They were stopped by a Galbadian soldier.

  


"General Caraway's mansion is right through this gate, but... I can't just let you walk in." The soldier informed them, gesturing for them to move back.

  


"I believe he's been informed of our arrival." Squall explained.

  


The guard realized that these were probably SeeD, and he knew that General Caraway was expecting some visitors from Garden. But the general had given him odd orders.

  


"Yes indeed, but... I was ordered not to let you through until your skillz have been tested.."

  


Rinoa rolled her eyes and huffed at this.

  


"He's still so skeptical of people."

  


_"'Still' ?"_ Squall thought. _"When has she ever met him...?"_

  


"Test our skills?" he replied to the soldier. "What does he want us to do?"

  


"The Tomb of the Unknown King to the northeast." the guard began. "All you have to do is go there. It's real simple, but...You have to bring back proof that you were there. A code number."

  


A few miles outside Deling city was an old, elaborate tomb, in which an ancient king had been buried. Since the area had become littered with monsters, especially inside the tomb, no one had 'officially' explored it, though there were unconfirmed reports of a Guardian Force residing in the tomb. On top of that, no one knew what the king's name was.

  


It was known that he was the last King from the old Dollet empire, which had once resided in Galbadia's territory. However, it was considered bad luck to speak the name of a dead king, a superstition that had hung over from ancient times, so the tomb was never labeled.

  


"A code number?" Squall replied, confused. 

  


_"What the heck is this...? Some kind of weird game...?"_

  


"All the way out here for a test of courage?" Rinoa huffed impatiently.

  


"There are many students like yourself who wish to call on General Caraway." The guard explained. "There was a student from Galbadia Garden yesterday, who has yet to return from the test at the Tomb of the Unknown King. Your objective is to go to the tomb, look for traces of this lost student, and return with his ID number."

  


The guard stopped to catch his breath, and continued.

  


"You should be able to find what you're looking for shortly after you go in. The ID number should be written on it. I don't recommend going any further than you have to. You may never make it back alive... Anyway, here's a map for you to use."

  


The guard handed Squall a rustic looking map of the tomb. It was built like a maze.

  


_"This is ridiculous..."_ Squall thought.

  


"Are you serious about this...?" Squall said, looking at the soldier accusingly.

  


"Absolutely. None of you are allowed in until you complete this task." the soldier replied.

  


Squall realized from the soldier's all-to-specific instructions and somewhat casual tone, that this 'task' was nothing more than that. A task. It was obviously a staged diversion, meant only to test out how well the students who called on General Caraway could follow directions.

  


_"If there was a student missing, they'd have a search party in there looking for him 24/7... But I suppose if the general insists on this, then we have to comply..."_ Squall thought, remembering the orders in the mission documents. _"He's the one who's giving us the instructions for this mission..."_

  


"I can escort you outside town, but you have to journey to the tomb on your own." the soldier continued. "You can rent a car near the outskirts of the city if you would like. The tomb isn't far from here, but there have been a lot of monsters around lately. Riding in a car will help you avoid any unnecessary trouble with them."

  


Squall nodded, and the soldier led them to the Deling car rental shop, near Deling city's entrance.

  


When the soldier left to return to his post at General Caraway's mansion, Squall turned to the group.

  


"...I guess we don't all need to go." he said. "Who's coming with me to this 'tomb'...?"

  


  


  


  


***--------------------------PLACE MARKER BONUS!---------------------***

**(Sick of reading right now? Take a break, and find your spot right here when you come back to the story! And for some extra reading for you hard-core fans... The following is two conversations by Galbadia Garden students at the Garden train station. )**

  


***************************************************************************

(Male and Female student sitting on bench in front of station.)

  


Male student: "Man this sucks."

  


Female student: "What does?"

  


M: "You know, the war. You can tell the country's startin' to get all edgy. And plus the sorceress."

  


F: "So, like, it's gonna be a repeat of the sorceress War we learned about?"

  


M: "Well, there's more. It's terrible I tell ya..."

  


F: "No WAY! Are you serious!?

  


M: "Yeah, she wants to make this Garden her base of operation."

  


F: "The sorceress!? Her base!?"

  


M: "You know what would happen then? Garden will be taken over, and we'll all be killed, axed, and eliminated..."

  


F: "That's scaryyyy! I'm going home!"

  


(Group of guys further up train platform.)

  


Student1: "Hey, you guys wanna stop by the 'usual'?

  


Student2: "Where's that?"

  


Student1: "The Deling shopping arcade."

  


Student3: "Not me! I got homework."

  


Sudent1: "C'mon, just for a little bit."

  


Student3: "It's good for you guys. You live really close. I have to change trains twice!"

  


Student2: "Get you license already!"

  


Student3: "My dad's givin' me a hard time, you know?"

  


*****************************************************************************************

  


Umm... yeah. A lot of this doesn't make sense, does it? But I gar-un-tee that this is a word for word type-out of those conversations. 

  


*******************************************************************************

  


  


  


"I'll go." Zell spoke up without hesitation. "I've heard about this tomb before. I want to check it out."

  


Everyone else looked at Squall uneasily. They were all tired, except for Irvine, who didn't seem too excited about the task anyway. They all knew that tonight's assignment would end up wearing them out even more, too.

  


But Rinoa finally spoke up.

  


"I... I can't stay here... I don't like it." she said. "I wanna go with Squall and Zell."

  


_"...I can't stay here without someone to keep me..."_ she hesitated, feeling slightly foolish about the thought. _"...safe..."_

  


Deling city frightened Rinoa, though she was a former resident. When she had left for Timber, she completely disregarded Deling as her 'home'. Now she simply viewed it as the capitol city of the 'Forest Owl's' enemies. 

  


Though she didn't quite feel at home in Timber, either.

  


Despite her seeming strong will and adaptability, Rinoa had a hard time feeling comfortable in a lot of places, even in areas she was familiar with. She loved living in Timber, but Rinoa never really felt like she belonged with the 'Forest Owls'. Her desire to help Timber gain independence fueled her ambitions, and made her want to be a part of the 'Forest Owl' team, but she always felt like she was missing something, or getting left behind in some way. It wasn't that Zone, Watts, or any of the others had made her feel unwelcome, however. They had gladly accepted Rinoa as 'one of them', even calling her their 'princess'. She realized this and cared about them dearly, but something about herself made it impossible for her to feel at home among them, and the other residents of Timber. 

  


Rinoa hadn't always felt like a stranger in the town, though. When Seifer was there, she began to feel like she truly 'belonged' in Timber, and even with the 'Forest Owls'. He made her feel protected in certain ways, and she liked the feeling. Though Rinoa didn't want to believe that she needed someone to watch over her and make her feel safe in order for her to be 'at home' there, she also couldn't deny how good it felt when Seifer had been there for her, the sense of peace and belonging that she possessed when he was around.

  


_"I'm not that scared... I guess. But this place does give me the creeps..."_ Rinoa thought, hoping Squall would let her come with him.

  


_"Besides... I asked him to help protect me, right? He's a SeeD... He'll follow the client's orders... Won't he?"_

  


But Rinoa wasn't sure that she even took those orders seriously. It wasn't as if she could discipline Squall if he didn't let her come or anything. She just wanted to stay with him... to feel safe.

  


Squall agreed with Rinoa's request, and walked with her and Zell over to the Deling city 'rent-a-car'. The three pilled into a vehicle, which Squall had rented for a hefty amount of Gil, and started out towards the 'Gotland peninsula', on which the Tomb of the Unknown King resided.

  


***********************************************************************

  


Miles away from Deling city, out onto the grassy 'Gotland peninsula', Squall spotted the ancient building, surrounded by a forest. He parked just yards away from the grounds and led Zell and Rinoa to the Tomb of the Unknown King.

  


As they approached the Tomb, they heard someone scream from within.

  


"F-Float!"

  


Two Female Garden cadets ran out of the entrance, frightened. They ran right past Squall and the others without even noticing them.

  


_"What was that all about...?"_ Rinoa wondered, becoming slightly frightened herself.

  


"Must've been some monster..." Squall replied, oblivious to Rinoa's fear.

  


Zell looked at Rinoa. She grabbed the ring on her necklace, and was biting her bottom lip. She seemed to do that whenever she was nervous... or scared.

  


"I'm sure there's nothing to worry about!" Zell quickly told her. He nudged Squall, giving him an accusing look. "We'll be outta here in no time!"

  


Squall rolled his eyes.

  


"...Whatever."

  


He looked around the Tomb entrance. It was quite large. The stony walls and pillars had become overgrown with moss, vines, and other plants. A moat surrounded the actual structure, however, and a small stone bridge ran across it, leading the way into the dark Tomb.

  


Squall also noticed something odd as he looked around. A swirling mass of energy emmitting from the ground near a pair of stone pillars... A draw point.

  


"Just stay here. I'll be right back." Squall said as he walked towards it.

  


So called 'Draw points' were small spots on the ground which radiated usable types of energy, specifically, magic. Squall focused the energy from his GF to draw out the energy from the ground. He felt the magic being learned and stocked within him by his GF, Shiva.

  


_"... ... Protect magic..."_ he realized. _"This'll come in handy..."_

  


After returning to Rinoa and Zell, Squall led them across the moat, and finally into the tomb's dark entrance.

  


************************************************************************

  


The inside was ill lit, though moonlight came in from cracks in the ceiling. The air inside the tomb was wet and humid. Squall noticed intricate designs on the wall, though they were overgrown with moss and grass.

  


They trudged along the stone floor, keeping an eye out for any clues.

  


_"An ID number...."_ Squall thought. _"The guard made it sound like it should be pretty easy to find..."_

  


"Hey! Check this out!" Zell cried suddenly.

  


_"Arggh... Zell!"_ Squall thought with irritation. He sighed. 

  


_"Maybe he found something, though..."_

  


"...Zell. Be quiet." Squall lectured. "There are monsters in here. Remember...?"

  


"Sorry... " Zell answered sheepishly. "But check this out!" he said regaining his excitement.

  


Zell pointed at the floor. On either side was a small stream running down the walkway. The water almost glowed blue as it reflected the light from the broken ceiling.

  


"Almost like a plumbing system, huh?!" Zell exclaimed. "That's amazing, considering how old this place must be...!"

  


Squall looked at the built-in stream, apparently some kind of draining system, with interest for a moment, but turned his attention to the task at hand.

  


"Lets just hurry." he said impatiently.

  


Zell hung his head, disappointed by Squall's seeming lack of interest.

  


"Okay... Fine..." 

  


_"Maybe I should have come by myself..."_ Squall thought. Then he sighed _"Quistis wouldn't have let me if I had tried, though... 'Garden code, article 2, line 5; Garden students, with or without SeeD rank, are always to battle in groups of two or more when in an actual battle situation."_ Squall quoted the Garden code book, once again. 

  


_"'In the event that, at least, one suitable partner is not available, wait for reinforcement(s), and/or proceed with EXTREME caution. ' " _

  


"Sure is dark in here..." Rinoa said, rubbing her hands on her bare shoulders. "...And cold."

  


"Yeah." Squall replied in an indifferent tone. His warm leather jacket made him almost oblivious to the icy air inside the tomb.

  


Water dripped from the ceiling as Squall led Zell and Rinoa further down the corridor. The hallway soon intersected with another path. Squall wasn't sure that he wanted to go any further, but then he noticed a small weapon lying on the floor.

  


He bent down and examined it closely. Attached to the blue dagger was a tag which read. 'Student ID No. 26.'** This was the 'code number' that they needed to find. 

  


_"This must be it..."_ thought Squall. He memorized the number quickly

  


"Alright... 'ID No. 26'. This is it." he announced. "Now let's get out of here." 

  


"Uhhh.. Squall...?" Zell's voice sounded shaky. " I think we've got a problem..."

  


_"Don't tell me..."_ Squall thought.

  


He turned to look where Zell was pointing and saw two huge blobs of goo with eyes and arms moving towards them quickly.

  


"Oh no..." Squall said. "Rinoa, We equipped a GF onto you earlier, right?" Squall quickly asked.

  


Rinoa nodded her head, trying to hold back her fear. Two huge monsters had noticed them, and were oozing towards the three quickly.

  


_"Just in case..."_ Squall thought. He wanted everyone to have a GF Junctioned, just in case they needed to use magic, or even summon the Guardian Forces themselves. He even spared one for Rinoa, though she had never really used GFs before.

  


"Alright, just hit 'em fast and hard." Squall commanded. "Zell, you know what to do." 

  


The two blue blobs attacked Squall, Zell, and Rinoa viciously, grabbing at them with their stretched out, gooey arms. Squall attacked with his gunblade, but it didn't seem to hurt the monsters much. Even Zell's quick punches, and Rinoa's blaster edge weren't effective.

  


"Zell!" Squall cried, avoiding the monster's swings. "Cast some magic... Just see what hurts them!"

  


Zell nodded, and stood back. He closed his eyes and cast a Thundara spell on one of the monsters.

  


The lightning bolt hit the half-liquid monster and killed it quickly. 

  


_"YES!"_ Zell thought, and began to cast another Thundara spell, so he could get rid of the other blob.

  


But it didn't work.

  


The magic attack hit the monster dead-on, but seemed to have little effect. Zell began frantically thinking of another spell he could use.

  


The monster started lunging towards Rinoa, now. She screamed and fell down, blocking her face with her arms. Squall jumped in front of her and swung at the blob, knocking it back. 

  


The monster became infuriated, and stretched out its arms. It grabbed all three fighters, tossing them down another corridor of the Tomb. The gooey mess crawled off quickly, fearing for it's life.

  


Luckily, neither Squall, Rinoa nor Zell was injured. Squall picked himself up and dusted off his jacket. He looked down at Rinoa, and helped her to her feet. 

  


Zell, lying on his back, kicked up his legs and landed on his feet again.

  


"What the hell was that...?!" Zell cried once they had all got their bearings.

  


"... 'Blobras', I think.." Squall replied. He had learned a lot about monsters in Quistis' class. "They're a weird monster mutation. Partly like gelatin... Each one is weak against a different type of magic."

  


"Well, whatever they were, I'm glad they're gone now!" Rinoa said. Though she was somewhat accustomed to battle with Galbadian soldiers, she didn't have too much experience with monsters. Most of them scared her.

  


"... I'm glad you were there to protec..." Rinoa began saying to Squall. But she became embarrassed, and cut herself off.

  


"...Oh... nothing. Nevermind." she blushed slightly.

  


_"...What?"_ Squall thought. He didn't understand what she was trying to say, as he was hardly paying attention anyway.

  


"So now where are we?" Zell asked. The monster had knocked them quite a ways down the corridor, and it was almost too dark to see. "Are we gonna be able to find our way back?"

  


"Oh no..." Rinoa said. "Are we lost...?"

  


"We'll find our way out..." Squall assured them. "We've got that map, remember?"

  


Squall pulled out the wrinkled map that General Caraway's guard had given him, and looked at it closely. 

  


"We started here..." Squall placed his finger on the map where the entrance was shown. "And I think we moved down to here. This is where we are right now..." Squall traced his finger to the bottom right corner.

  


"Oh... okay." Zell said calmly. Then, an idea came to him. "Hey...! I know...! Let's explore around a little bit! This map'll keep us on track, so we won't get lost. I've been dieing to know more about places like this!"

  


Before Squall could tell Zell that, 'they didn't really have the time to mess around here', Zell snatched the map out of Squall's hand and ran down the hall. 

  


"Com'on! Let's see where this leads too!" Zell called.

  


_"Great..."_ Squall thought sarcastically.

  


***********************************************************************

  


Zell turned a corner into a dead end. What he saw wasn't just a wall, though.

  


_"Wow..."_ he thought.

  


The small room he had entered was lit by two flames on either side of a mysterious-looking statue. Squall and Rinoa followed Zell in to the room, and noticed the huge stone figure.

  


_"What is this...?"_ Squall wondered. _"...That statue looks like a GF..."_

  


Suddenly, they heard a loud roar. The statue began moving, twisting its stone body around, until it revealed its true form.

  


"GRRR!!! WHO'S THERE!!!?" the statue growled angrily. The stone covering had shattered, revealing dark purple fur.

  


It was a Guardian Force. One which resembled a bull, except for its man-like torso. The huge beast started attacking the humans before they had a chance to respond.

  


Squall dodged the swings from the GF's huge steel mace, and cast 'scan' magic on the beast. The spell began revealing information about it to Squall.

  


_"... ... He's definitely a Guardian Force..."_ Squall realized. _" He's called 'Sacred'. ... ... and he's an earth-typed GF, at that..." _

  


Squall began thinking of the different kinds of magic he had gathered recently.

  


_"... What was it those two girls were screaming earlier...? ...'Float'?"_ Squall thought, again dodging the GF's punches. _"It's not wind magic... but it'll keep Sacred from contact with the ground. That should weaken him..."_

  


As an Earth-based creature, Sacred could heal himself when in contact with the ground. If a magic like 'Float' was cast on him, he wouldn't be able to do so.

  


Zell ran up to the monster and socked him several times in the gut. The ten foot tall GF winced slightly, but attacked back, throwing Zell away from him.

  


Rinoa stayed a safe distance away from Sacred, shooting at him with her blaster edge, while Squall began focusing, and cast 'Float' magic on the GF. The magic lifted Sacred away from the ground.

  


"That'll make it easier to injure him!" Squall yelled to Zell and Rinoa. "Keep attacking him!"

  


Eventually, the GF grew weary from there onslauts. He fought back fircely, knocking them down several times. But he couldn't take much more of this, especially when he couldn't heal himself. 

  


"THEY'RE PRETTY STRONG!!!" Sacred exclaimed. The 'Float' spell finally wore off, but they had weakened Sacred too much already, and he didn't want to lose to a bunch of humans. 

  


He glared at them, backing away.

  


"BASTARDS!!! IT AIN'T OVER!!!" he yelled. Sacred leapt over them, and ran quickly down into the Tomb corridors. The pedestal he was standing on lifted up, the stone scraping against the walls loudly.

  


"That was weird..." Zell said. "He just ran off..."

  


_"Yeah..."_ Squall thought. _"But... Maybe we should find him again... That's a pretty powerful GF..."_

  


"I think we should go after him." Squall finally said. "He's a GF. If we 'beat' him, we might get him to join us. Another Guardian Force could always come in handy..."

  


"Yeah..." replied Zell. "But how're we gonna find him...?"

  


"I don't think we should go looking for him." Rinoa spoke up nervously. "H-He could be anywhere in the tomb by now... I don't wanna get lost."

  


"We might end up battling that sorceress tonight... I want to be prepared." Squall coldly replied.

  


Zell nodded in agreement and followed Squall. Rinoa followed as well, disappointed, though, that Squall had not taken her concern more seriously.

  


_"It's not like I don't know what I'm talking about..."_ she thought.

  


************************************************************************

  


Squall, Zell, and Rinoa searched around the tomb corridors, following the map carefully.

  


_"I think he ran off towards the middle section..."_ Squall thought. _"That's where the actual tomb is located... But the map shows that it's surrounded by a moat of some kind..."_

  


Eventually, as they walked along the outer edge of the tomb, they found a small room, in which was a large window, opening to the outside.

  


"Whew... some fresh air..." Rinoa exclaimed.

  


Squall took a look outside, and noticed that they were surrounded by a body of water.

  


"The water comes all the way up to this wall..." Squall observed. "I wonder if the streams in the corridors have anything to do with this...?"

  


Zell wasn't paying any attention. He had found an interesting attachment on the wall.

  


"Hey... whatta' ya suppose this does...?" Zell asked. Without waiting for a reply, he pushed the lever and immediately, the center of the wall sunk down. Water flooded through, pouring into the room. Rinoa screamed a little, and Squall jumped back in surprise.

  


"Zell...!" Squall yelled. But he soon calmed down, as he realized that the water was being drained into the stone floor, through a grate.

  


_"...He acts like Laguna..."_ Squall thought, still slightly irritated.

  


"Let's keep moving." Squall said. "If this takes too long, we'll have to start heading back to Deling city."

  


************************************************************************

  


They continued to move along the tomb's outer hallway, until they reached another small, side room.

  


This area had a doorway leading to the outside. However, the stone floor only extended out so far, and was surrounded by water as well.

  


Inside, though, was an old wooden turn wheel. Zell began examining it.

  


"This thing looks like its trying to move..." Zell observed. "But its got a little rod in here blocking the spokes..."

  


Once again before Squall could stop him, Zell pulled the rod away. The wheel started turning quickly, and Squall, Zell, and Rinoa heard a loud metal cranking echo throughout the tomb. Finally, the noise ended with a loud, 'Thud!' 

  


"Zell... " Squall began, irritated. But he let it go. Zell was just like that. As long as he didn't screw anything up, Squall decided to let him be.

  


"What do you think all these levers and stuff do...?" Rinoa asked.

  


Squall paused for a moment. What did they do...?

  


"I don't know..." Squall replied. "But... Maybe those'll help us get into the center of the tomb... I think that's where the GF ran off to."

  


"You think!?" Zell exclaimed happily. "Boy! I was just messin' around, too...!"

  


_"Yeah... I know..."_ Squall thought.

  


***********************************************************************

  


The group followed the map to the center of the tomb. Sure enough, there was a door leading to the outside. From it, they could see a tall structure in the center of a water-filled moat. The coffin room.

  


Squall continued to observe the area. A draw bridge had apparently been lowered from the center structure, and the moat had been filled to the brim with water.

  


_"This makes sense now..."_ Squall thought. _"The lever released water into the moat, and the wheel lowered the draw bridge... Not bad, Zell."_

  


Squall turned to look at Rinoa and Zell. 

  


"That GF is probably over there. Get ready to fight again." he commanded. 

  


"Are you sure he's over there..." Zell asked. "How did he get to the center without lowering the draw bridge...?"

  


"Who knows." Squall replied. "But he lives here, so there must be all sort of secret passages he knows about... Besides, where else could he have gone?"

  


Zell nodded, showing he understood. He began cracking his knuckles, and started stretching out.

  


"Gotta get psyched-up, baby..." he said.

  


Squall looked at Rinoa. She held the metal chain on her neck close, and was biting her bottom lip.

  


"...You don't have to come." Squall offered. "Me and Zell can take care of it..."

  


"N-No... That's okay." Rinoa hastily replied. "I can help..."

  


_"Are you sure you can handle it...?"_ Squall thought. But he thought it best not to ask.

  


"Boy... I guess I'd better get used to this kind of stuff if I'm going to hang around with you SeeD, huh?" Rinoa attempted to joke.

  


But Zell didn't hear her, and Squall just stood there, frowning as usual.

  


_"...Whatever."_ he thought.

  


  


  


***--------------------------PLACE MARKER ---------------------***

  


**(Sick of reading right now? Take a break, and find your spot right here when you come back to the story!)**

  


Soon, they started across the long draw bridge, and into the coffin room. Once inside the dark, damp, center, they saw the Sacred GF, poised to attack, standing on top of a large coffin.

  


"Y-YO, Y-YOU BACK AGAIN!? TOOK IT EASY ON YOU LAST TIME, B-BUT NOT THIS TIME! T-THIS TIME MY BIG BRO IS WITH ME! N-NOW'S YOUR CHANCE TO RUN, MAN!" Sacred screamed at them, stuttering nervously.

  


Zell rolled his eyes. For as powerful as this GF seemed, he sure sounded like a nervous wreck. And not too smart either. There was no one else in the room besides them.

  


_"Man, this guy's a major idiot."_ Zell thought.

  


Seeing that they weren't going to leave, and that they were, in fact, ready to fight, Sacred started yelling again.

  


"BRO!"

  


A loud rumbling shook the room.

  


_"Uh-oh..."_ Zell thought. _"Maybe he's not so dumb after all..."_

  


Another GF appeared, materializing before them, and slammed its steel orb into the ground harshly. This beast looked exactly the same as Sacred, except for one major difference... 

  


Sacred stood roughly six feet taller than his, 'big', brother. 

  


"Yeah bro." the small GF replied.

  


"YO BRO, THESE GUYS CRASHED THE TOMB! P-PLUS THEY ATTACKED ME!" Sacred screamed.

  


"Oh really... They attacked you?" the smaller said, impressed. "Not bad for a human..." 

  


Squall scanned the smaller Guardian Force with magic as they talked.

  


_"... 'Minotaur'... that's an appropriate name..."_ Squall thought. _"But he's a lot stronger than he looks... this might be tough..."_

  


Zell looked on in disbelife. This huge monster of a GF was answering to a puny-little, bull-faced copy of himself.

  


"The puny one's the elder brother?!" Zell exclaimed.

  


"He's so much smaller..." Rinoa agreed.

  


"Y-YO BRO, THEY'RE MAKIN' FUN OF US!" Sacred yelled.

  


"Foolish little humans. I'll show you not to judge a book by it's cover..." Minotaur said.

  


Then the 'brothers' began attacking. Using strong physical attacks, reinforced by earth magic, their hits were powerful and potentially deadly.

  


Squall began to scan through his magic, and found 'Float' again.

  


_"Here we go..."_ Squall thought as he cast the levitating magic.

  


Minotaur was lifted from the ground.

  


"Hey!" he yelled. "Put me down, dammit!" 

  


Without contact to the ground, these earth typed GFs could not recover quickly from any attack. Their advantage of strength was soon undermined...

  


But they wouldn't give up without a full-on fight.

  


"HEY BRO! HOW ABOUT THE 'MAD-COW SPECIAL'?" Sacred yelled.

  


"Do it, bro." Minotaur replied.

  


Squall saw the attack coming, and just barely had time to cast 'Protect' on himself, Zell, and Rinoa.

  


Sacred grabbed Minotaur from the air, and swung him into the three humans. The two-foot tall GF hit them all in one shot with his steel orb.

  


Squall, Zell, and Rinoa moaned as the attack hit them, knocking them down. The 'Protect' magic shield absorbed a lot of the impact, but it still hurt quite a bit.

  


"Ouch..." 

  


Zell rubbed his head. He began casting cure magic on himself, Squall and Rinoa.

  


_"Alright..."_ Squall thought as he picked himself up from the ground. _"We'll have to fight a lot harder now..."_

  


Squall closed his eyes and began casting 'Aero', a wind-typed energy attack that he'd acquired. It hit Minotaur, twisting a small tornado around him, and hurled him to the ground. 

  


"Unngh!" the GF exclaimed. He collapsed onto his knees. Minotaur was too weak to finish fighting.

  


"The rest is up to you, bro."

  


Sacred glared at the humans before him in disbelief. He knew that with their wind magic, he didn't stand much of a chance, but they had taken out his 'big-bro', and he wanted revenge.

  


"T-TAKE THIS!" Sacred yelled as he threw his fist into Squall's body.

  


"Ugh...!" Squall exclaimed. He was knocked to the ground.

  


"Squall!" Rinoa yelled.

  


Without the 'Protect' magic, the hit might've killed Squall.

  


"I- I'm... Fine..." Squall replied, nursing his bruised chest. "Use ...Aero..."

  


Zell responded quickly to Squall's command, casting his own 'Aero' spell onto Sacred. The magic hurled the GF into the air, as it had done to Minotaur. Sacred slammed down into the ground. He moaned, signifying the end of the battle.

  


"THE BROTHERS... DEFEATED..." Sacred sighed in anger. "...I GUESS WE'LL JOIN YA..."

  


Squall had just used some 'Cura' magic to heal himself when the GF disappeared. He felt both Sacred and Minotaur enter his mind, taking a 'place' with his other GFs.

  


_"...It's as if they're two Guardian Forces, in one..."_ Squall realized. _"...Weird."_

  


"Whew... You okay, Squall?" Zell asked, walking over to him.

  


"...Yeah." Squall replied, brushing himself off. "Where's Rinoa...?"

  


Rinoa was examining an odd inscription written above the coffin that Sacred had been standing on. The letters glowed eerily, though their was no light source behind them, only stone. The words had started shining when Sacred and Minotaur disappeared.

  


"Look at this..." Rinoa said, waving Squall and Zell over. 

  


The inscription read;

  


'You are quite the powerful ones to have defeated the two Brothers. Thanks to you, I am now free from this cramped stone coffin... However, there is something I have been thinking of for a very long time... Is it really necessary to entomb those traveling to the other world, after such a long and tiring journey through life?'

  


The letters then stopped glowing and disappeared. A bright light then flashed throughout the room, blinding Squall, Rinoa and Zell for a moment.

  


When their eyes adjusted, the coffin lid had been swung wide open, revealing the emptiness of the stone container. The lid then slammed down suddenly with a loud 'Boom!'. Dust flew from the cracks as it closed.

  


All three of the young fighters stood there, speechless. They had no idea what had just happened, and they weren't sure that they wanted to know.

  


Finally, Squall spoke up.

  


"Um...uh, we... We should start heading back to Deling city..." he said slowly.

  


Rinoa and Zell nodded in agreement, and quickly followed Squall out of the tomb.

  


************************************************************************

  


** This number is actually a random number in the game. 'No. 26' is just the one I happened to get this time. I've gotten, like, '135' and other stuff before.

  


End chap 14.

  


Well, kind of a long and pointless journey through the tomb, I know. But at least they have a new GF to show for it. Hope this one wasn't to boring. (I know you guys... you're waiting for the mushy l-o-v-e scenes, aren't you? Well, you're gonna have to wait for 'em... sorry!) 

  


OMG! I just realized that this chapter is longer than chapter 3! I can't believe it... I never thought that I'd top that. Yikes... 

  


Oh, and I just had to change up the end part of this scene a little. I mean, c'mon. In the game, a skeleton talks to you. That just doesn't translate very well into written form. Shoot! It doesn't even make sense when you play through it in the game! So I had to alter the scene a little to make more sense.

  


(But, you know, far be it for me to criticize a weird FF moment... O_O )

  


*Get's beat up by nerdy Final Fantasy diehards... #_O*

  


In any case, my point is that, some stuff that works well on a visual/interactive level (i.e. video games), doesn't work on a non-visual/non-interactive level (i.e. my story here...) Since you don't really get what Squall's reaction to the *ahem* skeleton is (there is none, in the game...), you gotta make something up. I just decided to make it eaisier on myself, and make the scene a little less cheesy... Squall's response to the odd event was much eaisier to come up with in the form that I put it in. Seriously, how do you just go about your buisness after seeing this weird-as-hell skeleton start singing and dancing in front of you for no good reason? A slightly eerie message with some special effects are much eaisier to deal with.

  


In fact, the whole side-quest to get the 'Brothers' GF was kind of hard to explain. So I used Zell as a scape goat. You'd be surprised how easy it is to use his childlike curiosity to explain in written form what is not explained in the game... heheheh... 

  


*Evil laughing, followed by insatiable desire to make quotation marks with my fingers at every other noun...*

  


How was Rinoa in this chapter? She may sound kind of weak and needy... But she isn't! Rinoa just wants someone, ya' know? (Not anyone in particular... yet!) She wants to be loved, and feel protected by that love... But she just doesn't realize that that's what its all about yet. Oh well.... she'll soon find out, and then I get to have fun messing with her emotions and how unsure she'll get about her feelings towards Squall... hehehehe... Oh! And what was up with Squall, by the way?! The poor girl is freezing her butt off in a dark tomb, and Squall is just sittin' there warm and cozy with his frikin' fur-collared leather jacket on. Call me crazy, but if a sweet girl like Rinoa is cold, you just gotta give up your coat, man. It's the gentelmanly thing to do. *Sigh* But Squall will get nicer, I swear it! If he didn't, I would never lay claim to having any similarity to him (Reference the chapter 10 comments for a rather scary profile comparison.)

  


*More evil laughing... puts pinky to mouth and pats miniture clone of self on the head...*

Sorry, I've been thinking about 'Austin Powers' movies lately... Don't know why. I really don't like 'em all that much...(Except for 'Dr. evil' and 'Scott evil'... They're a hoot!)

Up next! Chapter 15: Deling city part 2;The 'Ambassador's' Commemoration Ceremony.

  


^_^

  


R+R (please!)

  


***********************************************************************

  



	16. Chapter 15: Deling city part II

  


  


**Chapter 15**

**Deling city, part 2;**

**The Commemoration Ceremony**.

  


  


Squall drove the rented vehicle back into Deling city. After they had returned the car to the city's 'rent-a-car', Squall, Rinoa, and Zell met the rest of the group in the Galbadia Hotel.

  


"How'd it go...?" Quistis asked as she saw Squall walk into the lobby. "You guys kind of took a long time... It's been nearly two and a half hours..."

  


"It was fine." Zell replied, yawning. He stretched out his arms. "We found a GF inside the tomb, though, and Squall wanted to 'catch' it..."

  


"... I _wanted_ to be prepared, just in case we have to make a head-on assault at the sorceress..." Squall hastily explained, glaring at Zell.

  


"Well, we'd better head over to General Caraway's mansion again. You did find the 'code number', right?" Quistis asked.

  


"Yeah."

  


"Then let's go."

  


***********************************************************************

  


Upon reaching General Caraway's mansion, his guard noticed the group of SeeDs approaching him.

  


"Yes, what is it?"

  


Squall hesitated, still feeling somewhat silly about the whole code number 'mission'.

  


"...We're ready to answer."

  


"Oh! So you found the code number... Well, what is it?"

  


"... Student ID; Number 26."

  


The guard smiled at this, and his curt tone changed immediately.

  


"That's correct! Please, right this way." he said. He started towards the General's mansion.

  


Caraway's Mansion was the second largest building in Deling, outdone only by the presidential residence. Two towers on either side of the main entrance lifted up from the house, making it look like a castle.

  


As Squall approached the building, followed by the other Garden students and Rinoa, he started wondering about the night's real mission. 

  


_"Both Balamb and Galbadia Garden are joining forces with the general from the Galbadian Army. ...Why?" _Squall thought. But he soon disregarded the questions, not wanting to read too much into anything. 

  


_"...No point in me thinking about it. 'SeeDs aren't meant to question why.'"_

  


At the front door of the mansion, Rinoa thought of something, and stopped Squall. 

  


"Umm..." she began nervously. "Is my contract still in effect?"

  


_"What is it this time?"_ Squall thought. He turned to face Rinoa.

  


"Don't leave me in this house, ok?" she started. Rinoa saw the irritated look on Squall's face. 

  


"Want me to explain why?" she offered.

  


Squall was beginning to become curious about Rinoa's 'history'. She had raised a lot of questions by claiming to be Galbadian, but he didn't want to waste any more time.

  


_"This might take a while..." _he thought. _"And she doesn't have to explain anything to me.... I'm a SeeD...'Not meant to question why.'"_

  


"You should know by now." Squall calmly replied. "Just tell us what to do and we'll do it."

  


Rinoa smiled cheerfully. The warm tone in Squall's voice had betrayed the somewhat cold meaning to his words.

  


"Okay then. Thanks." she said.

  


After Rinoa's conversation with Squall, Quistis eyed her strangely. Ever since they had arrived in Deling city, Rinoa's odd comments had been puzzling her. More than that though, Quistis had found Rinoa irritating since they'd met in Timber that morning. 

  


_"...She's nice enough... But she needs to think things through a little more..."_ Quistis thought. _"...And learn when to keep quiet..."_

  


Quistis was actually starting to get a little jealous of how Rinoa seemed to be able to get through to Squall. Squall didn't really act 'interested' in her or anything, but Rinoa seemed to be able to reach him easier than most people, including Quistis herself. She had never seen Squall express as much emotion in all the years she'd known him, as he had today.

  


Quistis huffed anxiously as the Galbadian guard led the group into General Caraway's home. He showed them to the general's office, and told them to 'wait here'. 

  


************************************************************************

  


Everyone waited for the General to appear. But after staying there for thirty minutes, Caraway still hadn't shown up.

  


"He's making us wait quite a bit..." Quistis complained.

  


"Errghh..." Zell moaned. _"When's he comin'..!?"_ he thought.

  


Irvine had seated himself at the General's desk, his feet resting on some papers and documents. He seemed much more relaxed than everyone else was. His posture suggested an incredibly relaxed attitude.

  


"What's taking so long...!?" Selphie whined. She couldn't stand waiting around like this.

  


Rinoa rolled her eyes.

  


"Hmph... He always does this! So discourteous... making people wait." she said. "I'm gonna go complain."

  


_"Here we go..." _thought Quistis sarcastically.

  


_"That's not a good idea..."_ Squall thought.

  


Squall put his hand on Rinoa's shoulder, stopping her, before she could run out the door. He removed his hand quickly, a little embarrassed, and shook his head.

  


"I'll go." 

  


"Oh, Don't worry about it." Rinoa said casually. But she realized what his concern was, and explained. 

  


"It's my house."

  


Everyone looked at Rinoa with surprise. Her house?

  


Rinoa had started to become a little comfortable around Squall and the others, and had sort of forgotten that they really didn't know much about her yet.

  


"Everyone just wait here." she instructed.

  


_"...Hope it doesn't lead to any trouble." _Squall thought. Even though he _had_ just met her, Squall knew that Rinoa could be difficult and stubborn at times. She had a very strong personality.

  


Rinoa closed the office door behind her carefully.

  


"What the hell's goin' on!?" Zell said.

  


Suddenly, Squall heard some commotion, and a door slam out in the hall. The door to the general's office swung open immediately, and a tall man wearing a long military jacket decorated with many medals approached Squall. It was General Caraway. He looked upon the group with an authoritative glare.

  


Miles Caraway was born and raised in Deling city. His father had been a presidential aide, which helped the general gain rank quickly in the Galbadian army. After serving in the military for about ten years, Caraway's impressive performance during the sorceress war had earned him the rank of general… and Vinzer Deling's trust.

  


"Where's Rinoa?" Squall asked, suddenly becoming worried about her.

  


_"She said that she didn't want to be left here..."_

  


"She has not received the type of training you all have, and may become a burden." the General replied. "It's for the best that she stays out of this operation."

  


Selphie ran over to the general from her place at the window.

  


"So you're Rinoa's father?"

  


The general looked at Selphie with sad, dark blue eyes. Though his youthful features betrayed his true age, a worried expression, graying hair and wrinkled forehead revealed the general's many years of life.

  


"I can't remember the last time she called me that." he replied.

  


_"...He's Rinoa's father? But he's 'Caraway'... Her last name's Heartilly..."_ Squall thought.

  


Zell finally understood what Rinoa had meant by 'her house'.

  


"So the father's a top military officer, and the daughter's a member of an anti-government faction!?" Zell cried. "That's bad... Really BAD!"

  


Now just over the age of fifty years, the general had been in command for twenty. He was married right after his promotion, but he allowed his career to put family matters aside. When Rinoa had come along, unexpectedly, General Caraway attempted to make his family life a more important priority. But soon after, Rinoa's mother died, and the general returned to his usual, 'workaholic', routine. Rinoa became all too aware of her father's absence in her life, and developed a deep hatred for the military. It was the Galbadian army that had taken both of her parents away from her, as far as she was concerned. 

  


"Yes, indeed. It's a serious problem." Caraway replied to Zell's blunt comment, matter-of-factly.

  


Rinoa had been more sad than angry about her parents, when she was young. But when she reached her preteens, Rinoa grew rebellious. She started to get in trouble a lot, and also take on her mothers maiden name as a sign of displeasure with General Caraway. When she turned 14, Rinoa had her name legally changed from, 'Caraway', to, Heartilly'.

  


Her father allowed much of this, as he felt regret for the way Rinoa had been raised. But he had become very upset when she joined the 'Forest Owls' last year.

  


The general walked over to the office window, and gazed upon the city. He thought about his daughter sadly for a moment, but realized that he had business to take care of now. 

  


"But it doesn't concern you. It's our problem." he said quickly. 

  


_"That's not the case..."_ Squall thought. _"If she doesn't want to be here, then we're obliged to help her... We have a contract."_

  


"Besides, we have far more important things to worry about." the general continued.

  


Squall thoughts still drifted towards Rinoa and her contract, though. He could not be disloyal to the agreement which she had made with Garden, even if her father was the General of the Galbadian army.

  


_"Garden's directive and Rinoa's orders have the same value to us."_ he thought. Squall looked at the general.

  


"Once our mission is accomplished here, we're working for Rinoa, as per our contract." Squall explained. "I don't know what your situation is, but please don't interfere when the time comes."

  


The general turned around quickly, angrily glaring at Squall. His face became intense.

  


"And if I do?" he retorted. General Caraway didn't appreciate this 'child' telling him not to interfere with his own daughter.

  


_"What's his problem...?"_ thought Squall. _"He won't be able to do anything about it..."_

  


"We're all SeeDs here..." Squall replied harshly. If the general was going to speak in threats, Squall was going to reply in kind. 

  


"We'll act accordingly."

  


Though a bit shocked at Squall's overly-rough tone, everyone agreed. The general was a very temporary client. If push came to shove, Squall, Zell and Selphie would have to assist Rinoa, in whatever way she decided.

  


Everyone stood quietly, staring at Squall and General Caraway for a moment. The room began to become uncomfortable.

  


Then a smooth voice broke the silence.

  


"Hey, hey, hey... Fellas..." Irvine said from his place at the General's desk. "We're here to knock off the sorceress, right?" 

  


Irvine kicked his body up and over the desk, landing on the floor.

  


"So let's get down to business."

  


General Caraway paused, glancing over at Irvine. He didn't like being talked back to, but the young SeeD cadet was right. 

  


"OK, let me explain the plan." he said, shooting Squall a mean glance.

  


The General started walking out of his office, signaling the Garden students to follow him. He led them outside.

  


***********************************************************************

  


"I'm sure you know about the Galbadian government reaching an agreement with Sorceress Edea." General Caraway began.

  


_"So the Sorceress' name is Edea..."_ Squall thought.

  


"There is going to be a ceremony tonight to commemorate the event."

  


_"Edea..."_ Squall thought again. A faint familiarity with the name rolled around in Squall's mind for a moment, but he simply shook his head and continued following the general.

  


Caraway led them beyond his mansion, and started towards the president's house.

  


"It'll be held at the presidential residence."

  


They walked along quietly down an empty road. Traffic was being cleared in preparation for the ceremony.

  


"During the ceremony, you will split up into two teams, and get into position." General Caraway continued.

  


They reached the square in front of the presidential residence, and stopped on the sidewalk.

  


"The 'gateway team' will enter the gateway and stand by. The 'sniper team' will stand by at the front of the presidential residence until the ceremony is over."

  


The general walked over to the far end of the square, near a street light.

  


"This is where the 'sniper team' will wait, right here, where I am standing."

  


_"So, we're gonna divide into two teams; the 'sniper team', and the 'gateway team'."_ Squall thought, memorizing the general's instructions.

  


General Caraway pointed to the large mansion in front of them.

  


"That's the presidential residence." he said. 

  


Everyone looked at the huge house. It was decorated extravagantly, and surrounded by a large rod-iron gate.

  


"Once the ceremony ends, a parade for the sorceress will begin. That's when the gate will open. Lay low until then. The parade may be canceled if there is any commotion. We must avoid that at all cost." Caraway pointed at the gate, and gestured, illustrating the 'sniper team's' movements.

  


"Once the gate opens, the sniper team will move out. With the parade drawing the crowd and the guards' attention, it should be rather easy to move about..." he paused, catching his breath. 

  


"The sniper team will head for the roof of the residence. In the corridor by the sorceress' room, there is a hatch that leads to the clock tower... There's a clock tower there housing a carousel clock. You'll find the sniper rifle there. Stand by in the clock tower until exactly 20:00."

  


_"20:00 hours..."_ thought Squall. _"8:00 PM... that doesn't leave too much time... But I guess that's the way it should be... Get in, get out. Finish the job quickly..."_

  


The General started walking towards the front gate now.

  


"The parade will begin by the gate. The sorceress will be riding on the parade vehicle. After it leaves the gate, the vehicle will turn left."

  


The general started running away and to the left of the gate.

  


"Like this." he said. "This way."

  


He began running in the opposite direction now.

  


"The parade will circle once around the city along the outer road and return to this space."

  


He ran towards the SeeD group.

  


"It will return on this side... Then it will turn right... And head this way."

  


General Caraway stopped at the main avenue, across the street from Squall and the others. He was standing on the archway road. 

  


"Here's where the 'gateway team' comes into play."

  


Caraway motioned for them to follow him down the road. Upon reaching Deling city's golden archway, he began explaining the plan again.

  


"At exactly 20:00, the parade will pass under the gateway."*

  


The arch was wide, about eighty feet from entrance to entrance, and possessed a rod-iron gate which dropped from the upper portion of the archway on each end. Because of this, it was often called 'the gateway to Deling city', a popular nickname among the city's inhabitants.

  


"At this point, the 'gateway team' will operate the console to drop the gates."

  


He paused.

  


"The sorceress will be trapped inside the gateway. At 20:00, the carousel clock will rise out of the roof, carrying the 'sniper team' up as well. There will be no obstruction between the 'sniper team' and the sorceress."

  


The general again made a dramatic pause.

  


"Take the open shot...... BANG!" he yelled.

  


The general startled the group with this. He smirked, but then frowned seriously again.

  


"That is all. Now we wait..."

  


He breathed heavily. Exhausted.

  


"You're free to go anywhere. Go check out the city if you wish. Just one thing... Stay out of trouble."

  


The general looked at Squall accusingly.

  


Squall folded his arms. What did he mean by that?

  


_"Who do you think we are? ...We're not like your daughter."_ Squall thought, irritated.

  


Squall glared at the general.

  


_"We are SeeDs."_ he reminded him.

  


General Caraway stood silently.

  


_"...I suppose he's right..."_ he thought. _"...But he's pretty pretentious for a child..."_

  


The general sighed.

  


"Report to my residence when you're ready." he said. "We'll hold a final meeting then. After that, we'll proceed with the operation."

  


General Caraway marched off without another word, leaving the group to explore the city for themselves.

  


***********************************************************************

The Garden students made their way around Deling city. Squall Selphie and Zell found a place to eat, since they hadn't had the opportunity for a meal all day. Zell gulped his food down greedily, while Squall and Selphie only picked at their plates. They were too worked up about the night's mission to have much of an appetite. 

  


After eating, they explored around for a bit along with Quistis and Irvine, but Irvine eventually found a way to be alone with the person he'd been trying to get attention from since the train ride,… Selphie. They separated from Squall, Quistis and Zell, unbeknownst to her, at the Deling city shopping center.

  


"So... Selphie..." Irvine approached her in the souvenir shop, using his 'sexiest' voice. "...How about you and me drop this mission, and 'hook-up' somewhere..."

  


Selphie nearly dropped the souvenir she was examining in shock when Irvine said this. She caught her breath, and turned around, glaring at Irvine.

  


"N-No...!" she yelled. "This is an important mission...!" 

  


Selphie threw the 1/1000 scale model of the archway into Irvine's crotch. He barely caught it before the heavy metal object could hit him.

  


Selphie walked away with a loud huff.

  


"... ... I was just kidding...!" Irvine called to her, placing the souvenir back on the shelf. He ran after her, begging for her attention. 

  


"C'mon Selphie!"

  


***********************************************************************

  


Squall, Quistis, and Zell had found the local weapon shop. Displayed on the wall were weapon's and accessories of all sorts. Squall flipped through his issue of 'weapon's monthly' and showed the store owner the weapon he was interested in.

  


"Can you make this...?" 

  


Squall pointed to the page featuring an upgraded gunblade.

  


"Hmmm..." The shopkeeper tilted his glasses down and examined the article. "Oh! That's the 'Shear trigger'. I think I can do that... Lessee; a steel pipe and a few screws all I need to make the adjustments..."

  


The shopkeeper stared at Squall blankly for a moment though.

  


"Uhh... We don't sell the weapons, son. You gotta have a gunblade with you..."

  


"Here." Squall answered, setting his gunblade down on the counter. "I have the parts, too. How long would it take to remodel...?"

  


_"...And don't call me 'son'..."_ he thought.

  


"Just a few minutes..." the elderly man replied. " I don't need to change the blade or anything... This'll be really quick...."

  


"How much?" Squall asked as the shopkeeper started drilling into his weapon. 

  


"Only, oh.... 200 Gil." was the response.

  


_"'Only'…"_ Squall thought sarcastically. _"Whatever."_

  


The shopkeeper continued drilling and adjusting the trigger portion of the gunblade, and after a few minutes, was completed.

  


Squall handed over his Gil, and took the weapon in his hand. It felt a little heavier, but no more than Squall could handle. The trigger felt more comfortable, also.

  


Squall thanked the shopkeeper and led Zell and Quistis out of the shop.

  


"Pretty cool, Squall! Looks brand new...!" Zell complemented Squall on his 'new' gunblade.

  


"...Whatever." Squall replied.

  


Suddenly, Quistis became aware that they had lost Selphie and Irvine.

  


_"...I hope Irvine's not causing any trouble..."_ Quistis thought.

  


The three SeeDs then noticed a yellow-clad, young woman walking quickly down the street, continually looking behind her and yelling something.

  


"Stop it, Irvine!" Selphie called behind her.

  


"...But Selphie!" Irvine replied loudly, fighting his way through the crowded sidewalk. "We're meant to be together...!"

  


Selphie bumped into Zell.

  


"Ouch!" They said, knocking heads.

  


Selphie looked up to apologize, and then saw who it was.

  


"Zell! Hide me!" Selphie said quickly.

  


"..Huh?!" Zell replied, confused.

  


Selphie didn't have time to explain. She ran behind Zell, and peeked over his shoulder.

  


"(...He won't leave me alone...)" Selphie whispered.

  


Zell looked ahead and saw Irvine coming at them.

  


"...Oh." he said.

  


Irvine stopped, surprised when he realized who was before him.

  


"Oh! Hey guys... What's up?"

  


The four SeeDs just rolled their eyes.

  


"C'mon..." Squall said. "We'd better get back to the general's mansion... We're on a tight schedule right now..."

  


Everyone turned around and headed in the direction of Caraway's mansion.

  


"...What?" Irvine exclaimed, trying to keep up with everyone. "What's everyone so irritated for...?"

  


***********************************************************************

  


"Its time to form the teams." General Caraway instructed. The SeeD group had returned to his mansion, along with Irvine, and all were ready to start the mission.

  


"The sniper and the leader of this operation will form the sniper team." The general paused.

  


"The leader's role is vital."

  


Squall looked up at this.

  


_"...What does he mean?"_ He thought.

  


"If the plan fails for some reason..." The general looked towards Irvine. "... Or should the sniper miss..."

  


Irvine waved his hand at the general, smirking.

  


"...The leader must carry out a direct assault against the sorceress."

  


Selphie gasped and put her hand to her chest.

  


_"...Oh no..."_ she thought. _"He doesn't mean all by themselves, does he...?"_

  


"The plan was devised carefully, because we intend this to be a covert operation." the general continued. "But our ultimate goal is to eliminate the sorceress, and we must achieve this at all cost."

  


The general took a long pause now, and then spoke solemnly.

  


"Even if they uncover our identities."

  


He cleared his throat and looked around.

  


"So, who's going to lead the operation?"

  


Everyone turned their heads to one person in the room, …Squall.

  


He felt them, looking at him, relying on him. Squall didn't like it, but he accepted the responsibility, realizing that he had no choice.

  


"I will." he said.

  


_"... I am the Squad leader from the original mission in Timber. I guess it's my job."_

  


The general replied quickly.

  


"Fine. I'll leave the rest up to you."

  


_"...The 'sniper team' is decided."_ Squall thought. 

  


"Irvine and I will make up the 'sniper team'." he said. "The 'gateway team' will be..." Squall looked around, realizing that the 'gateway team' had already been decided as well.

  


_"Zell, Selphie and Instructor Trepe..."_ Squall thought. _"…Quistis, I mean."_

  


"Whoo-hoo!" Selphie yelped.

  


"Roger." Quistis agreed.

  


"Let's DO IT!!!" Zell cried out.

  


After their cheering, Selphie thought of something.

  


"So who's gonna be the leader for the 'gateway team'?" she asked.

  


Zell's ears perked up immediately at this. He smiled and began practicing his punches.

  


Squall looked at Zell, sighing.

  


_"Sorry, Zell."_ he thought.

  


"Instructor Trepe..."

  


Squall stopped, correcting himself.

  


"...Quistis Trepe, you're in charge."

  


Zell hung his head in disappointment.

  


_"...Squall doesn't trust me..."_ Zell thought sadly. _"... Not that I can really blame him..."_

  


"OK!" Quistis replied happily. "Leave it to me."

  


The general spoke up now.

  


"OK. Let's begin."

  


General Caraway motioned for Squall and Irvine to follow him. Quistis waited for them to leave, and was left on the room with Zell and Selphie.

  


"We're on your team, instructor." Zell encouraged her. "Let's kick some ass!"

  


Quistis appreciated the sentiment, but Zell had not yet been informed of her demotion. Quistis wasn't an instructor anymore.

  


"Whoo-hoo!" Selphie agreed.

  


Quistis blushed slightly, but she cleared her throat and started to lead the 'gateway team' out the office door.

  


As she turned the knob, someone burst him, almost knocking Quistis to the floor.

  


"Hi!" Rinoa said, entering the room quickly.

  


"Finally got out of there! Did that man say something?" she asked.

  


"No, not really." Zell replied.

  


_"...Nothing that concern's her, I suppose..."_ Zell thought.

  


Rinoa looked around the office.

  


"Where's Squall?" she asked in a worried tone.

  


Quistis approached her.

  


"I'm sorry Rinoa, but we have to get going."

  


Rinoa put up her hand.

  


"Hold on a sec."

  


Rinoa grabbed a small piece of metal attached to her Jean-skirt, and lifted it up for the group to see.

  


"Take a look at this!!!" she said excitedly.

  


_"...What...? It's just a bracelet or something..."_ Zell thought.

  


"This is called an Odine Bangle. I found it in that man's room."

  


Rinoa had admitted to living at the house, but refused to speak of General Caraway as her 'father'.

  


"Odine!?" Zell said.

  


"Whatcha gonna do with it?" Selphie asked.

  


Rinoa walked to the center of the room. 

  


"It's supposed to suppress the sorceress' powers." Rinoa replied.

  


Quistis lowered her head, and put her fist to her mouth. She could guess what Rinoa was planning, but they didn't have time to fool around with her 'childish' ideas.

  


"But, its' effects are still unknown. So I don't think they're going to use it for this mission."

  


"If it's Odine brand, it should be pretty effective!" Zell said. "They're number '1' when it comes to magical goods."

  


Rinoa turned to Zell and smiled. Her eyes brightened.

  


"Right! Right!"

  


Quistis began shaking angrily now. She couldn't take any more of this. 

  


"So what exactly do you want to do with it!?" Quistis yelled. "Are you planning to have the sorceress put it on!?"

  


Quistis walked right up to Rinoa's face, pointing at her accusingly as she spoke.

  


"Who? When? How?"

  


Rinoa squinted her eyes and put her hands on her hips.

  


"That's what we're going to discuss!" she replied indignantly.

  


Quistis stomped her foot, startling Zell and Selphie.

  


"We don't have time for that." she said angrily. "Squall and Irvine are already standing by. We have an operation to carry out, too."

  


Quistis lowered her voice, calming down a little.

  


"You understand, don't you?"

  


Rinoa remained quiet. Glaring at Quistis.

  


Quistis glared back, becoming even angrier.

  


"This isn't a father-daughter quarrel. This isn't a game." Quistis growled, throwing her hands down.

  


_"...Yikes. Calm down instructor..."_ Zell thought.

  


Selphie turned her head away. She hated it when people fought.

  


Quistis motioned for Zell and Selphie to follow her, and she stomped out of General Caraway's office. Rinoa looked away from them, not wanting Quistis to see her eyes watering up.

  


After Quistis, Zell, and Selphie had left, Rinoa turned around.

  


"Who said this was a game...?" she said to herself.

  


Rinoa squatted down onto the floor, her arms around her knees.

  


"I understand what's going on... It's not like I don't have a plan..." she whimpered.

  


***********************************************************************

  


Outside the general's mansion, Squall spoke to Irvine. His voice denoted the seriousness of the nights events.

  


"I'll make the first charge when we make the full-on attack. I'll try to buy some time."

  


Irvine just smirked as they walked along, following General Caraway.

  


"That won't be necessary... I'll get the job done." he replied.

  


Quistis , followed by Zell and Selphie, came out of the mansion. She walked past Squall quickly, her face red with frustration.

  


_"...She just doesn't understand..." _Quistis thought. 

  


She had become easily upset with Rinoa, though she started feeling bad for the way she had yelled at her.

  


_"... We just don't have time for her... childish plans..."_

  


Squall saw Quistis angry expression, but ignored it, focusing on the mission.

  


As the general walked them across the street, and over a small bridge to the Deling city park, Irvine tried to strike-up some conversation.

  


"So like... Is it true that SeeDs aren't supposed to question their mission?" 

  


Irvine sounded curious, and a little nervous as he spoke.

  


Squall started rolling his eyes, but he began to ponder this as well.

  


_"There are times I'd like to know myself. Like... now for example. But..."_

  


They entered the park, still following General Caraway.

  


_"...Why does he want to know, anyway...? He isn't a SeeD yet..."_

  


"What do you care?" Squall said.

  


Irvine ignored the question and changed the subject slightly.

  


"So like... if you knew that your enemies were pure evil, you'd get more fired up to fight them, right?"

  


_"...An enemy that is pure evil?"_ Squall thought. 

  


The question made Squall think. 'Pure evil'? That would require someone who was 'pure good'. The idea was too... romanticized. Squall didn't want to think about it, and Irvine's questions were getting a bit too personal for him, besides.

  


_"Right and wrong are not what separate us and our enemies. It's our different standpoints, our perspectives that separate us."_

  


The group made their way out of the park, and onto the main street, right by the archway.

  


Squall continued his thoughts.

  


"Both sides blame one another. There's no good or bad side. Just two sides holding different views."

  


Squall looked up from the ground and noticed the large crown that had gathered to see the parade. Both sides of the entire sidewalk were filled. Galbadian soldiers stood at attention, ready to control any disturbances if need be.

  


_"...I hope we don't stand out too much..."_ Squall thought.

  


Squall and Irvine followed General Caraway to the archway, along with Quistis, Zell, and Selphie.

  


Once underneath, the general addressed the 'gateway team'.

  


"The 'gateway team' will wait inside the gate until 20:00." he reminded them. "You can enter through this door."

  


There was a thin door on the inside wall of the archway that the general had unlocked.

  


"The sorceress will pass through the gateway at exactly 20:00. In that instant, lower the gates using the control console located on the top floor and trap her inside the gateway."

  


The general nodded, satisfied that they understood, and led Squall and Irvine down the street towards the presidential residence. Quistis, Zell and Selphie went into the archway door.

  


***********************************************************************

  


"You two will wait here." The general instructed.

  


Squall and Irvine walked to the spot General Caraway pointed to. They were standing in the middle of a large crowd, right before the presidential residence.

  


"General, why has the sorceress decided to have such an extravagant parade?" Squall asked. He wasn't going to question the mission, but Squall was curious about the sorceress' intentions.

  


"She wants to establish her place in Galbadia Garden, since she has chosen it to serve as her base." the general replied.

  


_"So that's why Galbadia Garden wants her out..."_

  


"It's starting" Caraway observed. Loud orchestrated music had begun playing, and Vinzer Deling stepped onto the balcony, smiling happily. A podium had been set up on his roof, in preparation for the night's events.

  


The general looked at Squall and Irvine.

  


"I'm returning to my residence. Good luck."

  


Squall and Irvine waited for the sorceress to appear.

  


***********************************************************************"

  


"So the steel portcullis comes down when you hit this switch." Quistis observed.

  


Her, Zell and Selphie had found their way up the metal ladder, and into the upper floor of the archway. It was a dark, damp tiny room, but it was good enough to serve their purpose.

  


"We're going to trap the sorceress." Zell thought aloud. "Doesn't sound very fair, but I guess it can't be helped."

  


Selphie wasn't paying attention. She was busy staring towards the presidential residence. She had a clear view of the balcony from the archway's window.

  


"Great view from up here!" she said excitedly.

  


Quistis started nervously biting her lip. Her eyes darted around as she looked at the floor. She appeared to be deciding something.

  


"..Umm... C'mon lets go back down for a minute..." Quistis said quickly. 

  


Before either Zell or Selphie could reply, she started down the metal ladder. Zell looked at Selphie questioningly, but Selphie just shrugged her shoulders.

  


Once they had reached the bottom, Zell spoke up.

  


"Instructor, what's up?"

  


Quistis spoke softly, in a worried voice.

  


"Maybe I was too hard on her..."

  


_"Too hard?"_ Zell thought.

  


Quistis turned around.

  


"I'm going to go apologize..."

  


Quistis realized that, while what she had said was true, the angry tone with which she had 'spoken' to Rinoa, was unnecessary. 

  


_"Like the general said... she hasn't been trained for this type of thing... It's not her fault... (sigh). How could you be so insensitive, Quistis? After all you've said to Squall about being so cold... Now look at you, yelling at some innocent girl... I hope she's not crying..."_

  


Zell realized what, and who, she was talking about.

  


"You mean... Rinoa?" He said.

  


Quistis nodded her head.

  


_"...Yeah... I guess you were pretty hard on her...."_ Zell thought.

  


Selphie didn't like the way Quistis had spoken to Rinoa either. Her plan might have been 'spur-of-the-moment', but at least she wanted to help. Selphie also realized, though, that they were in the middle of something very important. Leaving their assigned area was not a good idea, as she had learned in the SeeD field exam.

  


"But... but..." Selphie began. "We can't just leave our post!"

  


"We still have until 20:00." Quistis argued. General Caraway's home was just a few minutes away, so Quistis reasoned that she could make it there and back before eight O'clock. 

  


"We can't...!" Zell started to agree with Selphie, but Quistis started walking off quickly. 

  


Selphie ran after her.

  


"Hey, wait up!"" Zell called.

  


***********************************************************************

  


Inside the general's office, Rinoa was sitting on the floor, fighting tears.

  


General Caraway walked in. She heard his heavy footsteps enter the room.

  


Rinoa tilted her head slightly, and waved her hand back. She wanted to be left alone.

  


General Caraway sighed deeply.

  


"It'll be chaos out there soon. You'll be safe here." He tried to assure her.

  


Again, Rinoa waved him away.

  


Miles Caraway folded his arms. He looked upon his daughter sadly, not knowing what to do or say.

  


_"I've messed up so badly... her mother would be so upset to see us like this..."_ The general wanted so badly to put his arms around his 'little girl'; Tell her that everything would be okay. But he knew that a relationship with his daughter like that had long been impossible. He had kept Rinoa at a distance her whole life, and now he was suffering the consequences.

  


_"...All I can do now is try to keep her safe... She's going to hate me even more for what I'm about to do... But it's been like that for so long... and I don't blame her."_

  


General Caraway walked out of the room and shut the door firmly.

  


Rinoa sniffed and wiped a tear away from her eye. She stood up now, trying to think of what she could do next.

  


Suddenly, she realized something.

  


"Oh no! He's gonna lock me in!" she said.

  


The general had an advanced security system installed in the mansion. From his bedroom, he could lock any room in the house. He planned to keep Rinoa inside his office until the night's plan had been accomplished.

  


Rinoa ran towards the door quickly, but stopped in her tracks. She had come up with a plan for the 'Odine bangle'... But she was all alone now. No one would be there to help her. 

  


The door way in front of her seemed much larger, and darker to her now.

  


Rinoa didn't want to go through with her plan alone, plain and simple. But no one was there. Even if they had been, she reasoned, they wouldn't have listened to her.

  


_"To them... I'm just a client...."_ She thought of the SeeDs. _"...They won't listen to me unless they have too..."_

  


Rinoa was frightened to do this on her own, but she mustered up her courage.

  


"I... I can do it..." she told herself.

  


Rinoa ran out of the office, and down the hall towards the mansion's back door.

  


***********************************************************************

  


Seconds after Rinoa's escape, Quistis ran into the room.

  


"Rinoa, I'm sorry I..." She began quickly. But when she stopped running, she noticed that the office was empty.

  


Quistis looked around, confused.

  


Zell and Selphie looked around the office as well. Where had Rinoa gone?

  


Suddenly, the door slammed behind them, and they heard a loud *click!*

  


Quistis, Zell, and Selphie all turned around in surprise.

  


Quistis ran over to the door. She pushed and pulled, but it wouldn't budge.

  


"Did we get...Locked in?" Quistis said, startled and confused.

  


"... That Caraway guy!?" Selphie exclaimed.

  


"We're smack dab in the middle of a family quarrel here!" Zell cried out.

  


Quistis put her hand to her forehead. 

  


"This is bad." she said. "...I'm worried about Rinoa, too."

  


"What!? We're the ones trapped here..." Zell thought.

  


"What do you mean?" he asked.

  


Quistis hung her head, feeling immensely stupid.

  


"Rinoa's probably on her way to see the sorceress as we speak." she explained.

  


"She wanted to help us..."

  


********************************************************************** 

  


Rinoa had escaped from her father's mansion. Now she needed to find a way into the presidential residence.

  


As a young girl, Rinoa had been allowed to roam the city freely. She had explored almost every corner of Deling city... Even the presidential residence.

  


On one of her, 'adventures', Rinoa had found her way past Deling's guards, and into the president's mansion. The guards were so upset when they found out that she had sneaked in, but they couldn't figure out where she had come in _from_.

  


_"I hope it's still there..."_ Rinoa thought, as she walked through the alleys surrounding the president's mansion.

  


Sure enough, Rinoa found her 'secret spot'. A rather large opening in the rod iron fence around Deling's mansion, covered by several thick bushes. She crawled underneath the bushes and onto the grounds. Luckily, this section was also not patrolled by guards, and led straight to the president's parking area... Which would hopefully lead to the sorceress.

  


Rinoa made a straight shot to the parking area. when she reached it, she saw a pile of large wooden crates, leaned right up against the wall.

  


Right above the last crate, was part of the flattened roof.

  


_"...This seems a little too easy..."_ Rinoa thought, trying to keep her spirits up. But she looked at the boxes before her, and gulped.

  


She wasn't sure if she could climb them.

  


"I'm not a SeeD, but..." she huffed.

  


Rinoa started climbing the boxes, pushing herself up with all her strength. 

  


"I can do this..."

  


She pulled her self up to a wooden crate, and hung on with her arms. Her skinny legs dangled below, kicking in their efforts to grip the box.

  


She reached the top of the crate and leapt on top the building next to it. She made it.

  


Rinoa continued talking to herself, trying to keep from being afraid. She had exerted herself from climbing, but she knew that the hard part was yet to come.

  


"This isn't some kind of game..." she said. 

  


Rinoa ran along the building, until she reached a metal ladder leading further up the mansion wall.

  


_"I think I can reach the ...Oh, what was it?..." _she thought. _"...The commemoration room? Something like that. I can sneak in there from the top, anyway... That's probably where the sorceress is..."_

  


Rinoa reached the top of the roof, and saw a large door.

  


_"That's it..."_ she thought.

  


***********************************************************************

  


Rinoa entered the room carefully. Seated about four yards in front of her was a strange looking woman, cloaked in dark purple.

  


"Umm... excuse me..." Rinoa inched closer to the woman. 

  


The sorceress didn't move. She didn't even seem to hear Rinoa enter.

  


"I'm ... the daughter of, um... Galbadian Army's, um... General Caraway."

  


Rinoa was focused on her plan, but she remained nervous and uptight. Speaking about her father made her cringe slightly as well.

  


_"...Can she hear me...?"_ Rinoa thought. She continued.

  


"I... thought I'd... come pay my respects... You know... 'cause of my father and all..."

  


Rinoa had planned out an entire dialog, but her voice shook, and words came out in a mousy whisper.

  


"So, I... um... brought you a small gift. Please..."

  


Her words stuck in her throat, but the sorceress didn't seem to be paying attention to her. The hand holding the Odine bangle started shaking. In fact, her entire arm started vibrating uncontrollably with fear. Why didn't the sorceress respond?!

  


Rinoa was really scared.

  


She gulped, and walked towards the sorceress. Light from the chandelier above the sorceress' chair shone down, illuminating the pale, thin curtains in the room, and creating a glowing light around the long purple gown that the sorceress was wearing.

  


Rinoa stood right behind the sorceress. Still no words. She hadn't even moved. Was she alive? Was it a trap? Rinoa's arm shook even more now, as she stood right behind the sorceress Edea. Rinoa raised the small bracelet close to the chair, hoping to slip it somehow on the sorceress.

  


But she couldn't.

  


A bright flash of light exploded between Rinoa and the sorceress. Rinoa was thrown back to the floor.

  


But she didn't fall hard. The jolt seemed to float her away from the sorceress, and gently, but firmly lower her to the floor.

  


Rinoa sat up, confused by what had just happened. She propped herself up on her hand, and realized that she was missing something.

  


_"The bangle...!"_ she thought.

  


Rinoa stared blankly at the sorceress. Had she been successful? Was the Odine bangle in place?

  


Rinoa couldn't tell. The sorceress still wasn't moving.

  


Suddenly, Rinoa's arm started shaking. She looked down, and saw a small golden bracelet attached to her wrist.

  


_"What...?"_ she thought. _"How'd it get on me...?"_

  


Her arm started vibrating violently, now, Rinoa looked at her arm. She couldn't control it. 

  


_"Oh no..."_

  


It hurt. Bad.

  


_"What's happening...!?"_ Rinoa began to panic.

  


She started to feel sore. The pain was intense. Rinoa felt like her arm would be torn from her socket any minute.

  


"(...Please... stop....)" Rinoa tried to say, but she was too frightened to speak.

  


Then, Rinoa's arm stopped shaking. Instead, it was lifted up. Rinoa was then pulled by her arm, above the ground. Her feet dangled in the air.

  


Her arm remained still now, but her entire body started shaking. Something was making her muscles convulse violently.

  


"Ugh." was all Rinoa could utter. She brought her hand to her chest, trying to ease the pain.

  


Then, Rinoa felt something hit her hard, nearly knocking her out. The sound echoed throughout the room, and Rinoa fell. Her limp body, already feeling bruised, crumbled onto the hard tiled floor.

  


Rinoa breathed heavily. She wasn't badly injured, but it hurt so much.... She kept her eyes closed, wondering what the sorceress would do next.

  


Finally, the woman seated before her showed some signs of life. Flowing strands of black hair glowed red with rippling energy, tucking themselves into the sorceress' head-covering.

  


The head-covering itself started transforming, as well. The front, which came out to a point, covering her eyes, started to glow brightly, and disappear.

  


The sorceress, stood up, and a sudden gust of wind blew back her flowing shoulder adornment, a large half-circled metal decoration, attached to her upper back, with a cape coming out on each side.

  


The sorceress looked around with her yellow tinted eyes, and shook her head, as if coming out of a long slumber.

  


Rinoa too, shook her head, and started to lift herself up from the ground.

  


But not under her own power.

  


Rinoa's knees knocked together at first, and then she straightened out her legs. Her hands lay at her side, and her head was tilted slightly. Rinoa's eyes were glazed over, and she swayed back and forth.

  


The sorceress was controlling her.

  


Rinoa remained standing there as the sorceress stretched out her arms, and brought then back, almost wrapping them around herself. She started walking away now, towards the huge, solid, double doors before her, and walked right through with out touching the handles. The doors liquefied, allowing her to pass, and then quickly regained their solidity.

  


Rinoa was remained indifferent, however. Under the sorceress' power, Rinoa simply opened the doors, following Edea out of the commencement room, and out onto the balcony, where president Deling was waiting.

  


Edea was now going to speak before the people of Deling city.

  


***********************************************************************

  


In the crowd below, Irvine and Squall were watching the balcony closely. They had been watching Vinzer Deling stand there, his hands behind his back for a few minutes now, and they were still waiting for the sorceress to appear.

  


Then, Irvine caught a glimpse of her.

  


"Here she comes." he whispered.

  


"The sorceress approached the podium slowly, and looked down at the thousands of people cheering for her. A slight smirk could be detected in her dark lips.

  


Squall watched on as the strange woman walked up to the microphone. Another person was on the balcony besides her and President Deling, though. A blue clad, skinny figure, with dark raven hair.

  


Rinoa followed the sorceress onto the balcony. She blinked slowly, and swayed back and forth sleepily.

  


Irvine's eyes widened and his voice became high pitched.

  


"H... Hey... That girl...!" he exclaimed.

  


Squall squinted his eyes, trying to get a closer look.

  


"Rinoa...?" he said.

  


***********************************************************************

  


Atop the balcony, Edea stared at the adoring public below. They were all cheering loudly. 

  


She began her speech.

  


"...Lowlifes." the sorceress said in a sour tone.

  


"Shameless filthy wretches." Edea raised her voice, speaking loudly and filled with hate.

  


"How you celebrate my ascension with such joy. Hailing the very one whom you have condemned for generations."

  


Vinzer Deling's smile disappeared. He seemed obliviously happy at first, but shook his head, starting to realize what was being said.

  


The sorceress merely shoot him a quick glance, and he returned to his previous mood.

  


"Have you no shame?" Edea continued "What happened to the evil, ruthless, sorceress from your fantasies? The cold-blooded tyrant that slaughtered countless men and destroyed many nations?"

  


The crowd continued cheering, thrilled at being spoken too by this harsh and cruel woman.

  


Edea shrugged her shoulders and sarcastically asked.

  


"Where is she now?"

  


She chuckled slightly.

  


"She stands before your very eyes to become your new ruler. HAHAHAHAHA." she cackled

  


Vinzer Deling snapped out of the trance now. New ruler!? What was she saying. Edea certainly wasn't going to overthrow him... Was she?

  


"A new era has just begun." the sorceress continued.

  


President Deling walked over to Edea, now his voice shaky and concerned.

  


"E-Edea... Are you alright...?"

  


The sorceress said nothing. She simply raised her arm to meet the presidents chest, just barely touching it with her sharp pointed gloves.

  


"Ede...!" The president began, But his voice was stopped. Yellow smoke emitted from the president's body as Edea lifted him, effortlessly, from the balcony floor.

  


Without taking her eyes away from the crowd Edea continued her speech.

  


"This is reality." she said. "No one can help you."

  


Rinoa, still unfazed, simply blinked, as if to agree.

  


"Sit back and enjoy the show." Edea said.

  


The crowd let forth an ear splitting cheer, loving the sorceress more than ever now.

  


Edea smirked again, lowering her eyebrows. She tossed the president behind her, throwing his body into the balcony stairwell. He hit the edge with a loud thud, and green smoke emitted from his dead body.

  


"Rest assured, you fools...." Edea started again. "Your time will come. This is only the beginning."

  


Edea lifted her arms and loudly yelled.

  


"Let us start a new reign of terror. I will let you live a fantasy beyond your imagination."

  


Edea turned around a this, and slowly walked back towards the commencement room. She was quite pleased with herself.

  


In the hallway though, an idea came to her.

  


"Let us end this ceremony with a sacrifice." she said aloud

  


Edea focused, and brought her hands together. A shrill noise sounded from the movement, and she brought her right hand up above her head.

  


Edea continued walking into the commencement room. She had to get ready for the nights festivities.

  


***********************************************************************

  


Near the archway, several happy residents heard an odd noise emit from the top of the gate.

  


Attached to the archway, on the outside, were two 'gargoyles' of a sort. Lizard-like monsters with half their bodies shaped like that of lions. The architect who had added them to Deling's archway called them 'Iguions'.

  


Energy began running through the statues. The one on the left began moving its' now flesh and blood eyes around. The rest of its' body transformed from stone into a real-to-life monster.

  


Both gargoyles began climbing up the side of the tower, confused at their sudden awareness.

  


But they soon heard the bidding of their master.

  


_'Kill... Destroy... On the balcony...'_

  


The Iguions hissed, and jumped down to the street. The people below, were surprised, but too wrapped up in their reveling to really notice the two beasts run through the roads, and leapt onto the presidential balcony. 

  


They were going to kill Rinoa.

  


Rinoa came to, just as she saw the monsters coming at her. She blinked, recovering from the sorceress' spell, and screamed as the statues lunged after her.

  


Irvine and Squall saw the whole thing, uncontrolled as the people around them were, by the sorceress'.

  


"Hey, hey, hey, she's in trouble big-time!" Irvine said, shaking Squall's shoulder. "We've gotta go help Rinoa!" 

  


Squall looked on in disbelief.

  


_"Oh my god...."_ he thought. _"What are those things...?"_

  


Squall angrily shook his shoulder away from Irvine's grip and darted his eyes around.

  


"The parade hasn't started yet. The gates not open." Squall realized.

  


Irvine's jaw dropped.

  


"You've gotta be kidding!" he exclaimed. 

  


Neither one of them could stand still for very often. They watched as the Iguions attacked something atop the balcony, hissing and scratching loudly.

  


They were right on top of something. Attacking it violently.

********************************************************************

  


Inside Caraway's mansion, Quistis was starting out the window, her hands came to her mouth as she gasped.

  


"Oh no! It's starting!" she said. Quistis hadn't seen what exactly happened, but she saw and heard the commotion outside. She knew that they didn't have much time.

  


"We need to get out of here, quick." she commanded. 

  


Zell and Selphie were pacing around the room nervously.

  


Zell came over to the window, and started jumping around nervously.

  


"Maybe we can break the window open?" he said. 

  


But the windows were reinforced with strong metal. It might damage whatever... or whoever, did the breaking, more then the window itself.

  


Selphie began to run about frantically, searching for a key or something that would help them escape.

  


"Not even a crack..." Zell observed, still looking at the window sill.

  


Zell walked over to the bookshelf on the far side of the general's office.

  


"Let's just search everywhere. That's all we can really do." Selphie suggested.

  


"Maybe there's something in these books..." Zell said. Then he hung his head, frustrated.

  


"It'd take forever to look through all of them..."

  


Selphie scratched her head, still looking around.

  


"Maybe there's some kind of secret exit... You know! Like in the spy movies...."

  


Quistis and Zell ignored her.

  


"It's all that guy's fault!' Zell yelled. He sighed heavily and walked over to the door.

  


"Hey a key!" he said sarcastically. "...NOT." he huffed.

  


Selphie had stopped looking around the room, and now began staring at an old painting that the General had hanging in his office.

  


"There's something' fishy about this painting...." she observed.

  


Quistis took a quick glance. Selphie was right. It did look odd. The painting was hung in an awkward spot, and it didn't match the decorations in the office at all.

  


It was a painting of some lady holding a wine glass.

  


Quistis simply shrugged her shoulders, deeming it unimportant.

  


_"...C'mon Selphie.... Don't you get all distracted here..."_ Quistis thought.

  


Zell too, though, was preoccupied with a piece of the general's 'art collection', though.

  


"Yo... This old statue looks kinda suspicious..." Zell said.

  


Over in the opposite corner of the general's office, was a large statue. It was a woman, draped in a long cloth. It looked strangely familiar to Quistis as she looked at it. 

  


Then, it hit her.

  


_"This looks like the woman in the painting... Exactly like her... Except... she's missing something."_

  


The statue had her hands cupped, but nothing in them.

  


"Wait a second..." Quistis said.

  


She searched around the room for something to fit into the statue's hands. She found a collection of wine glasses on one of the shelves.

  


_"...Hope the general won't get upset f I borrow this..."_ Quistis thought. _"...Oh! What am I thinking...? Who cares.... That jerk locked us in here..."_

  


Quistis took a wine glass and placed it carefully into the statue's hand.

  


_"Hope this does something..."_ Quistis thought.

  


As the glass was placed into the statue's hands, its' arms moved down slowly. Suddenly, they fell, and the wall revolved around, revealing a secret passage.

  


"NO WAY!" Zell exclaimed.

  


"Pretty sneak-y!" Selphie chimed in.

  


Quistis stood there, proud of herself, but still frustrated.

  


"Let's go." she instructed.

  


"But we don't even know where it leads!" Selphie argued.

  


Zell shot a wide-eyed glance at Selphie. They didn't have anywhere else to go. Staying there would almost certainly mean that the mission would fail. 

  


"No use staying here!" Zell exclaimed.

  


Selphie nodded in agreement, and they followed Quistis down the passage.

  


***********************************************************************

  


I have to end this chapter now. sorry.

  


*Gateway and archway are being used interchangeably here. While it is in fact called 'the gateway', many players may remember it as 'the archway'. It really is both when you think about it though. (The arch has a gate inside it...)

  


End chap 15.

  


OMG! This chapter took way to much time.

  


Okay, first off, I left for about two weeks on a 'vacation' of sorts while I was writing this (Which was very fun), so I didn't get to write for a long time. This wouldn't have been a big problem, had I been done with the chapter or not started on it yet, but I was right in the middle of it! ARgghhh!!! frustrating...

  


And I've been kind of just focusing on getting the text down at first and THEN going back and writing in my surrounding text, so this is going to need a LOT of editing...(I hadn't done it at the time these comments were being written...)

  


So, pretty exciting huh?! The sorceress is so frickin creepy... And she's bein' mean to Rinoa!

-_-() very sad indeed. Good thing she gets whooped in the next chapter…

  


BTW, I have no idea what to do for the next chapter though. There is no talking for the entire time that Quistis, Zell, and Selphie are trapped in the sewers... It's gonna be chapter 14 all over again. ^o^() Grrrrr... *sob*..... 

  


(Fluctuates between crying and screaming at computer.... very upset right now...)

Don't worry about my bad mood right now. It'll pass. I'm just having a little writers block, and I'm very sore right now. (Physically.) 

I had just got back from working at my high school registration. Man what a pain... I mean, I know a lot of you readers are high school students, and many are probably freshman, so please don't take this the wrong way. But holy cow! The freshman coming in are so clueless!!! And they don't respect any rules n' stuff... Grrrrr..... Nu-B's can be so irritating.

  


Actually... they weren't that bad... I'm just venting from being so tired and sore. This probably isn't the right place to rant about that stuff though...

  


Oh no... This chapter's bigger and badder than the last one! I'm sorry. I hope this one finds some favor with you quality wise, 'cuz fans who like their chapters short n' sweet are gonna hate me otherwise. Man... this really should have been two chapters... but oh well. I'm gonna leave it as is, and see what kind of response I get.

  


Next up! Chapter 16; Deling city part 3: The sorceress' Knight.

  


(ooo... I like that title. Pretty spiffy...)

  


***********************************************************************

  



	17. Chapter 16: Deling city part III

**Chapter 16**

**Deling city, part 3; **

**The Sorceress' Knight.**

Below the street level of Deling city, Quistis Trepe led the 'gateway team', herself, Zell Dincht, and Selphie Tilmitt, through the damp sewers.

"So this is where it led..." Quistis observed.

Though Deling city possessed an impressive sewer system, composed of well-laid concrete tunnels and water-wheels, ...it was still a sewer.

"Ewwww....!" Selphie whined. "It smells down here..."

"At least there's a walkway on each side..." Zell said. "...It's not like we have to trudge through the... uhh... 'water'..." 

_"I suppose... " Quistis thoughts. _

The group started moving along the Sewer walk way.

"We have to find a way out of here quick..." Quistis commanded. "...If we can't get back to the archway... I don't know what'll happen."

They all looked around for a moment. It appeared that the only way to go was forward. But the path was blocked by a wooden water-wheel.

"How are we gonna get up to the path?" Selphie said.

"Let's just ride the water-wheel up." Zell simply replied.

Selphie gawked at Zell, wide eyed.

"No way! I'm not touching that!" she yelled, pointing at the slimy wooden planks.

Quistis glared at her. 

"Selphie..." she began. "This isn't the time. We have to get out of here, so do it."

Selphie stood there silently for a moment. Quistis was right, this was no time to mess around.

It was still gross though.

Selphie sighed and turned her head to Zell. 

"...You first." she 'invited'.

"No. I'll go." Quistis said. "I'm in leading the group, so it's my responsibility."

Quistis grabbed hold onto the slippery wood, and rode it up to the next level of the sewer. Zell and Selphie followed her, though it took Selphie a moment before she could actually bring herself to touch the slimy waterwheel.

Quistis pushed a gate open, revealing more of the sewer path. She started walking in, and heard noises above. They all stopped.

"It's starting..." Zell said, solemnly.

_"Oh no...." Quistis thought. __"We're not gonna make it..."_

***********************************************************************

Above the sewers, on the street, the parade was indeed starting. Squall and Irvine stood in there places, getting ready to make a run for the presidential residence.

Fire works went off as the gate opened, revealing the huge sorceress' float, a large platform, moving effortlessly across the ground. 

The sorceress was placed in the rear of the float, on her throne, gazing knowingly at the ignorant crowd below her. Two large bowls on either side of her erupted in flames, and the large neon ring resting atop the parade vehicle gleamed with an eerie luminescence.

As about a dozen dancers in front of the float started throwing their bodies back and forth. They moved to the sound of the dark music being played in the sorceress' honor.

Irvine and Squall looked on, amazed, and a little disturbed at the sight. The crowd had just witnessed the sorceress' horrific speech, and now they were continuing to cheer her on. The people of Deling city seemed to love the sorceress.

But they couldn't afford to think about that now. Squall Leonhart, and Irvine Kinneas had a very important job to take care of. On top of that, Rinoa was still in danger from the two monsters that had attacked her n the roof.

Irvine looked over to Squall, and then over to the presidential residence.

_"...The gate..." he thought._

"Now's our chance. Come on!" Irvine said.

Irvine started running. He turned around, and saw Squall still standing there.

_"...Someone might see us..." Squall thought, weary of the fanatic people surrounding him._

Irvine glared at him in amazement.

"What are you waiting for!?" Irvine screamed. "Rinoa might die!"

_"...He's right." Squall realized. __"...And no one is even paying attention to us anyway..."_

Squall and Irvine started to run through the crowd, hunching over. They made their way out to the street this way, just as the sorceress' float was passing through two huge pillars lit with fire.

They passed the side of the vehicle carefully, avoiding the strangely attired dancers at the front and back of the float.

Squall, stopped for a moment. He wanted to make sure it was all clear before he went on.

As he squatted down besides the float, Squall looked up, making sure that he was still unnoticed...

What he saw on the float shocked him.

Squall gawked at a young, trench coated man, waving his gunblade to the crowd. He smirked proudly, and rested the weapon on his shoulder.

_"...Seifer...!!?" Squall thought._

_"Seifer's... alive?! How...? What's he doing with the sorceress...?"_

But the float continued moving and Seifer moved out of sight. Squall shook his head in disbelief.

He continued past the float, and down the road further. Irvine was waiting for him by the gates to the president's mansion. 

_"...Here we go..." thought Squall, forgetting, for the moment, what he had just seen in the parade._

_"...I Hope Rinoa's okay..."_

The thought made Squall start to get nervous. Was she dead already?

_"...No!...I can't think that..." he began, surprised at his attempted optimism. _

_"...She knows how to defend herself..."_

Squall and Irvine ran through the gate just in time. The metal shut with a loud clang, and They started to searched around. 

"..We need to get up to the roof..." Squall observed.

"There should be a way to climb up..." Irvine suggested. "...In the parking area... I think."

"...Show the way then." Squall said impatiently. "...Let's hurry." he added.

Irvine led Squall behind the president's mansion. They found a small concrete area in which an old car was parked. The ground was covered with old crates, as well.

The boxes, however, provided a means of climbing to the top.

"...So what...? We just climb up the crates...?" Squall asked.

"...Yeah... I guess." Irvine replied sheepishly.

_"...'You guess'... Great." Squall thought. _

He started to jump onto the boxes. Irvine went ahead of him, and finally leapt across to the roof of the mansion. Squall followed, and jumped across to the roof, almost falling over as he landed.

"...Alright..." Squall began..." Lets keep moving..."

Squall and Irvine eventually reached the balcony, where Edea had given her strange speech. They saw the lifeless, mangled body of president Deling lying near the stairwell, leading into the commencement room.

_"Those monsters must have been attacking the president's body first…" Squall observed. _

_"..Rinoa might still be okay…"_

Squall quickly ran up the stairs, throwing the doors to the commencement room open. Upon entering, he saw Rinoa in the very back, lying on the floor, shaking.

In front of her, were the two, statue 'decorations', now monsters which had been animated by Edea.

They stood, hissing at Rinoa, poised to attack.

"Rinoa!!!" Squall yelled. He rushed at the two half-lizards, slicing fiercely with his gunblade.

Irvine cocked his rifle.

"We have to save Rinoa!" he yelled heroically.

Irvine began blasting shots into one of the monster's hides. The monsters turned around and started to attack them. 

One of the beasts opened its' mouth and spewed what appeared to be molten lava, at Irvine.

"Aarrgghhh...!" Irvine yelled.

Squall grabbed Irvine's jacket, and spoke roughly.

"...It's just an energy attack...." Squall assured him. "Calm down."

Squall had just scanned the monsters. He felt confident that that could be defeated.

Irvine felt slightly embarrassed at his outburst, but he wasn't as used to battle as he wanted to appear.

Squall didn't seem to notice. He was busy thinking, and concentrating on the fight. He had noticed something else during the scan, which the 'Iguions' seemed to posses.

"Irvine... I'll attack. You draw!"

"What!?" 

"They're junctioning a GF! Draw it!

"Oh... "

Squall had helped Irvine junction a GF earlier on the train. Irvine refused at first, but eventually gave in. Irvine wasn't a SeeD yet, so he still wasn't entirely used to using magic and GFs.

Irvine began to focus, and energy emitted from the monster. A GF stocked itself within Irvine's mind.

_"...Carbuncle..." he realized. __"weird." _

The Iguion roared furiously as Irvine drew the GF. The beast nudged it's partner, and they both stood up on their hind legs.

_"...What are they doing...?" Squall thought, examining the beast's movements._

The monster's suddenly emitted an ear splitting sound wave, resonating intensely. Squall and Irvine stumbled at this. The attack was painfully loud.

Finally the sound stopped, and the two fighters picked themselves up again. Irvine cocked his rifle, and started shooting madly at the monsters. He'd had enough of this.

Squall continued attacking as well, slashing into their thick hides with his gunblade.

The Iguions started to give. One collapsed, and disappeared before them. The other, however, jumped at Squall, slashing with its sharp claws. It snagged onto Squall's shirt, leaving a small rip in the clothe.

Squall looked at the tear, and, infuriated, jabbed his blade into the beast's open chest.

Instead of, bleeding, though, the Iguion just disappeared, as its counterpart had.

Squall looked around. The battle was over.

***--------------------------PLACE MARKER---------------------***

**(Sick of reading right now? Take a break, and find your spot right here when you come back to the story!)**

_"...Rinoa."_

He ran over to her and Squatted down. She was breathing. In fact, she looked like she hadn't been hurt at all.

But she was shaking. Badly. She gripped the metal chain on her neck firmly.

"(I was scared...)" she whispered to Squall.

Squall, seeing that she was fine, got up, and turned his head.

_"…Okay… Whatever…" he thought. He had gotten so worried, but she wasn't hurt... He felt foolish._

Rinoa saw him move, and sat up herself. She rested on her knees and grabbed Squall's arm before he could start walking away. His necklace kicked up to his face from the momentum.

"Really scared."

Rinoa looked up at him. Her eyes were wet with tears, her face was slightly dirty, and her hair, moist from nervous sweat, was clinging to her cheek.

She looked scared. Really scared.

"It's over now." Squall tried to reassure her.

She took no note. She just started to shake his arm.

"I was scared..." she began again. "I was really, really scared."

"You're used to battles, aren't you?" Squall replied coldly, as usual.

Rinoa released one hand from his arm, but gripped on with the other firmly.

"I couldn't... I just couldn't." 

She hung her head down, her voice becoming even softer. She began to feel ashamed of herself.

"I couldn't fight alone."

_"...You're not ready for all this." Squall thought. He saw how frightened she was. He felt compassion for her, but that, in turn, made him feel uncomfortable._

He shook her hand away.

"Better get going." he said quickly.

He started walking, but Rinoa's eyes widened and she ran over to him, grabbing his arm again.

Squall sighed impatiently. He hated what she was doing... trying to rely on him for emotional support. He didn't know how to give it, and he didn't want to know how.

All he could offer was to keep her safe from now on, physically.

"I haven't forgotten your order." Squall assured her.

She still held on tightly, eyes closed and biting her bottom lip.

Squall let his sympathy show now. He raised his eyebrows and sighed.

"Just stay close to me." he said. 

Rinoa nodded her head, and slowly released Squall's arm. This was enough for her. As long as she stayed close to Squall, she felt like she would be okay.

Squall now turned his attention to their mission. Assassination of the sorceress.

_"..Okay... Now... where's that hatch the general told us about?"_

Squall led Rinoa and Irvine back out to the commencement room hallway. He looked around and immediately noticed a hatch on the ground.

_"This must be it..." Squall thought. He opened the small hatch, and lowered himself into it. _

Irvine and Rinoa followed Squall. Inside they found a large machine, apparently the carousel clock tower. The chamber was circled by small holographic projectors, which would emit horses, clowns, and other 'circus theme' images.

Besides one of the projectors, Squall saw a gun. It was the sniper rifle. He picked it up and handed it to Irvine.

"Irvine Kinneas, it's in your hands now."

The cowboy shooter took his gun, and nodded his head slowly. He said nothing, and went over to the far corner of the chamber. Irvine Kinneas sat down, and lowered his cowboy hat, covering his eyes.

_"Huh...?" Squall thought. __"Why'd he get all quiet?"_

Rinoa went over to sit down on one of the projectors.

_"Oh, he must be concentrating." Squall continued thinking. He sat down across from Rinoa._

_"Loneliness of the sharpshooter... I guess he has a point."_

Squall looked around in the chamber. It was silent.

_"Can't hear anything from in here. ...What's going on with the parade I wonder?"_

Then Squall remembered what he'd seen during the parade. …Seifer.

_"Seifer... So he's alive." he thought. __"Rinoa'll want to know... but..."_

Squall sighed.

"Rinoa." Squall said suddenly. 

She looked up at him. 

"Seifer's alive. He was in the parade with the sorceress."

Rinoa's eyes widened in surprise. Seifer was alive! ...But... With the sorceress?

"...What does it mean?" she said.

"Who knows." Squall replied.

_"I'm just as confused as anyone else..."_

An eerie thought occurred to Squall.

_"If I were to face the sorceress directly..." he started thinking __"Would I have to go through Seifer?"_

He sighed.

_"...That's the way it goes as a SeeD. You can't choose your enemies..."_

Rinoa dangled her legs above the floor. Her heart was still racing from her encounter with the two strange monsters, and now she had learned that Seifer was not dead. What did it mean?

Squall wasn't sure that she could handle what he had to say next, but he told her.

"I may end up killing Seifer." he said.

Rinoa threw down her feet. She was about to object, but she realized that Seifer had apparently joined with the sorceress.

_"...If Seifer's joined with the sorceress... then he's an enemy. Not only of SeeD... But of the Forest Owls, too..." _

"You're both...prepared, right?" she asked Squall. 

Squall started at her, blankly. What did she mean?

"That's the kind of world you live in. You've had a lot of emotional training."

_"...Yeah. I guess." was all Squall could think. Rinoa made it sound so... heartless._

"But... Of course, I'd rather it not happen..." she continued. Rinoa was trying to sound mature about it, but she was scared as hell. She didn't want to hear about Seifer's death, all over again. And what if Seifer killed Squall!? What would happen then!? Either way, it was a horrible situation…

Squall didn't know what to think or say. He didn't want to be responsible for killing Rinoa's 'boyfriend', especially not after learning that he was still alive. But if that's how it had to happen, Squall would do it...

_"...We probably shouldn't even worry about it, though..." thought Squall._

He looked over to the quiet sharpshooter in the corner.

"It's all up to Irvine." he said.

Squall started walking over to Irvine. Him and Rinoa's conversation was beginning to bother him, and something didn't seem quite right with Irvine, besides. 

As he squatted down next to Irvine, he noticed his head bobbing oddly... as if he were crying.

_"Huh...?" Squall thought. __"Is he freakin' out!?"_

"Don't tell me you're getting the jitters..." Squall started.

Irvine put his hand to his chest and looked up.

"I...I can't do it." he announced.

Squall put his hand to his forehead.

_"...Oh no..."_

***********************************************************************

Down in the Sewer, Quistis, Zell, and Selphie were lost.

"We gotta get to the gateway before the float does!" Zell exclaimed.

"I know! I know..." Quistis replied as she led them along.

Quistis was getting frustrated, but she kept a clear head. She started to think.

_"Okay. How are we gonna get out of here...? What would lead the way out...?"_

The group had passed through countless sewer gates and pathways, but nothing seemed to lead the way up to the street.

_"...The water has to start in here from somewhere... " Quistis thought. __"So if we follow the direction opposite from the flow of the water..."_

"I've got it!" she yelled. "If we go against the current, then we should find a way up to the street, or at least a way out of the sewer."

"What makes you say that?" Selphie asked.

"Because... The water comes from somewhere, right? Wherever it's pouring into the sewer from, must be above."

"I get it!" Zell said. "Good thinking, Instructor."

Quistis blushed a little, but regained her composure quickly.

"Alright, let's hurry." she commanded.

***********************************************************************

Sure enough, as they traveled against the current, Quistis, Selphie, and Zell found a dead end of the path.

But the water was pouring in from a tunnel in the wall, turning a water wheel. The seemed to be coming from up above. 

And there was a ladder right next to it.

"Alright!" Selphie yelped. "Way to go, Quistis!"

Quistis started up the ladder, followed quickly by Zell and Selphie.

As they climbed, their surroundings became more and more familiar.

"What the...?" Quistis started.

"Wow! This sure is lucky..." Zell responded.

They had climbed right into the Deling city archway... Their post for the night.

They passed the first floor and continued up, until they reached the top area.

"Phew!" Zell exclaimed. "We just made it." 

He went over to the small window with Selphie, and peered out. The parade was just getting underway.

But it was nearing the gateway.

Quistis went over to the window to look with Zell and Selphie. She noted the sorceress' float, and breathed deeply.

_"This is it..." she thought._

Then she looked in the distance at the presidential residence.

The digital clock atop the mansion struck 20:00

It was time.

Below the small gateway corridor, the parade dancers moved underneath the archway. The sorceress' float followed quickly behind, entering the gateway area.

"Instructor, now! Hit the switch!" Zell screamed.

Quistis ran over to the gateway control panel and, nervously, threw the switch down.

"Please work, please work..." Selphie chanted.

The archway began to shake. Rod-iron gates started coming down from the upper portion of the arch, surrounding the sorceress.

***********************************************************************

Beneath, Edea got up from her throne. She glared at the gates which had trapped her for the moment, under the archway.

_"What's going on...?"_

***********************************************************************

Inside the presidents mansion, in the workings of the carousel clock, Squall sat there, staring at the team's sharpshooter.

_"What are we gonna do..." Squall thought._

Suddenly, the machinery around them started moving. Rinoa gasped a little, as the clock rang 20:00. The holographic emitters bean shining brightly.

_"It's time..." Squall thought._

The carousel started rising, and finally, Squall, Irvine and Rinoa had a clear shot across the area at the Archway.

Irvine had an open shot at the sorceress.

"Irvine Kinneas!!!" yelled Squall.

"I... I can't" Irvine started. "I'm sorry, I can't do it. I always choke like this..."

_"Oh man oh man oh man..." Squall thought. _

"I try to act all cool, joke around, but I just can't handle the pressure..."

"Forget it." Squall coldly replied. "Just shoot."

Irvine ignored him.

"My bullet... The sorceress... I'll go down in history. I'd change the history of Galbadia... Of the world!"

_"We don't have time for this..." Squall was getting really impatient._

"It's all too much..." Irvine continued.

"Enough!" Squall yelled. "Just shoot!"

Irvine glared at Squall.

"I can't, dammit!"

Irvine started to sob. 

Squall sighed. What could he do?

A thought occurred to him. He didn't like it, but the job had to be done.

"Irvine, calm down." he said. "Everyone's waiting on you." 

Squall started to speak in a calm, reassuring voice. He hoped that Irvine would loosen up, and be able to shoot.

"I don't care if you miss. Whatever happens, happens, just leave the rest to us."

Irvine didn't looked at him, but he stopped crying.

"Just think of it s a signal. A sign for us to make our move."

Irvine turned his head a little now.

"Just a signal..."

_"That's it." Squall thought._

"Please." he said.

***--------------------------PLACE MARKER---------------------***

**(Sick of reading right now? Take a break, and find your spot right here when you come back to the story!)**

Irvine got up slowly, positioning himself correctly. He took aim right at the sorceress. There she was, right out in the open. Nothing between him and her, but Irvine's gun...

"...Just a sign." Irvine said to himself.

The air was quiet. Irvine cocked the gun, shook the hair from his eyes...

And fired.

The shot rang clear, and headed straight for Edea. Above the street, past the gate, over the float, and right into the sorceress.

But she didn't fall.

A blue cup of energy surrounded Edea, clanging loudly as the bullet hit it.

The sorceress smirked.

_"DAMMIT!" Irvine thought._

He sat down next to Squall. He had failed.

"...I'm sorry." he said.

But Squall saw what had happened. Irvine's shot was fine... He had just waited too long. The sorceress had taken the opportunity to prepare for an attack.

Now it was up to Squall to finish the job.

"It's ok. Your aim was perfect." Squall said. "Just leave the rest up to me."

Squall waved at Rinoa, signaling for her to come nearer.

"I'm goin' in for the sorceress. Irvine, Rinoa, just be ready to back me up."

Irvine and Rinoa nodded. If Squall couldn't handle it, they would come running. Squall nodded back, and prepared his plan.

He looked down at the street below.

"Take care of Rinoa." he told Irvine, and he jumped from the clock.

Squall landed on the balcony, and ran over to the podium which Edea had given her speech on earlier. He drew his gunblade, and looked at the crowd below.

It was chaos.

The cheering crowd had started to panic as Edea became trapped underneath the gateway. Galbadian soldiers fought with large shields to keep the people away from the presidential residence.

One soldier was dealing with several citizens. He heard something above though, and looked up.

Squall came roaring down from the podium, and knocked the soldier out of the way. He ran though the crowd, and looked around. he had to get to the gateway.

_"Where to go...?" he thought. Then he saw it._

_"...That'll work..." he said to himself._

There was a large car parked right in front of him. Squall jumped in, hoping the keys were still in the ignition.

They were.

He fired up the engine, and backed away from the parking spot. Then he took the car out of reverse, and sped quickly towards the gateway.

Luckily the streets were still clear, beyond the crazed crowd at least, and Squall made a straight shot for the arch. He crashed into the gate, and leapt from the vehicle. 

Squall landed on his knees, and then got up. Before him was the sorceress float. He crawled through the gateway, and mounted the parade vehicle.

As he climbed up, Squall saw an disturbing sight. Seifer, sitting down, right next to the sorceress.

The young SeeD stood before the two. His rival, and Garden's enemy. Joined forces. 

"Well, this is how it turned out." Seifer's proud voice came out.

Squall glared at him. He had joined with the sorceress... But in what way?

"So you've become the sorceress' lap dog?" Squall mocked.

Squall had no reason to act civil to Seifer now... he was an enemy.

Seifer smirked, knowingly.

"I prefer to be called her knight." he replied.

Then Seifer cocked his head to the side, examining Squall.

"This has always been my dream." he said suddenly, and then he lunged at Squall. "Squall, you're mine!" Seifer said. His voice became dark, and ominous.

Squall said nothing. he simply turned quickly to avoid Seifer's blows.

Then he counter attacked.

Squall cast a 'Blizzara' Spell on Seifer, nearly freezing him in his tracks.

"Ugh..." Seifer winced, recovering from the attack. "Not bad..."

He continued speaking though, acting as if he'd been unhurt by the magic.

"So, though I was dead, eh?" he said, sure of himself as usual. "Well, not until I fulfill my dream!" 

Seifer swung his sword down, and it met Squall's. The clanging of their blades rang loudly throughout the underbelly of the gateway.

For several minutes, Squall and Seifer clashed their weapons together, attacking without reservation.

_"Enough of this..." Squall finally thought. He backed away from the deadlock, and lunged at Seifer swinging wildly._

Seifer barley avoided the blow. He raised his gunblade up to defend, but got knocked down to the ground.

Squall knocked the gunblade from his hand and kicked it onto the street below.

"I... lost...!?" Seifer exclaimed, staring down at his weapon.

He squatted down, and hung his head, exhausted.

_"...I'm not letting you 'have' that one..." Squall thought indignantly._

"You're losing it Seifer." Squall said.

Despite all the anger and passion Seifer fought with, he hadn't seemed to be as skilled as he was before. Squall was surprised.

_"Must not have been training since we fought last..." he thought. __"What happened to him?"_

Suddenly, Edea spoke up. Her voice filled with more hatred and spite than even in her speech.

"...A SeeD." she said slowly. "...Planted in a run-down Garden."

Squall pulled his weapon out again, ready to attack.

He heard someone scurrying up the parade float though, just as he drew the gunblade.

It was Rinoa and Irvine.

"I can fight if I'm with you..." Rinoa said softly. "That's why I'm here..."

Irvine glanced at Squall, shame-faced.

"I have to redeem my self..." he said.

The two stood right by Squall, ready to fight.

The sorceress glared at the three youths before her with her yellow-tinted eyes.

"...The accursed SeeD."

Edea raised her long, sleek arm, and cast magic. A Thundaga spell. It hit Squall, and jolted him. He winced, but luckily he had junctioned thunder magic. He was protected slightly from any magic attack with a similar element.

Squall ran towards Edea, and sliced at her. She was still kept safe by the protect magic which she had used to keep Irvine's bullet from hitting her, so Squall couldn't reach her.

_"Damn..." he thought. Squall stepped back as Edea glared at him._

She was preparing another attack.

"Irvine!" Squall yelled. "What did you do with that GF that I had you draw...?"

"I junctioned it!" Irvine replied. "Why?"

"What's it do?"

"Casts reflect magic... I think."

Squall paused. Reflect magic!? That would be prefect.

"Use it!"

Irvine nodded. He focused, and summoned the GF.

As Irvine focused, and a small, blue figure appeared from a hole in the float.

It was Carbuncle. The small rodent-like GF glanced at the fighters before it. He jumped into the air, and cast reflect magic onto all three of them.

Then Carbuncle disappeared back into the ground.

Edea finally cast lightning magic again. But the reflect shield threw the magic right back at her.

_" It worked..." Squall thought._

They continued fighting. Rinoa attacked, trying to weaken Edea's protection. Edea also attempted to get rid of their shields using 'Dispel' magic, But Irvine continued to summon Carbuncle.

Edea cast Dispel on Irvine, and then followed up with a strong magic spell. She hit him with Blizzara.

This was too much for Irvine to take. He collapsed, not dead, but unconscious.

"...SeeD, is that all you've got?" Edea chided. "How boring."

Squall became infuriated. He ran at the sorceress, slicing with all his might.

She winced as he finally wore out her shield, but she cast out her arm, tossing him back.

"Impudent SeeD." she said in a dark voice.

Edea raised her arm, and light blue energy began glowing around her. The sorceress held her hand out, as if grasping something. Suddenly, large spears of Ice formed above her head.

_"What in the world...?" Squall thought._

Edea glared at him, and then smiled wickedly. She hurled the Ice javelins at the two remaining fighters.

Rinoa ducked, avoiding the Ice-spears, but they kept moving fast. They flew onward at an incredible speed.

Squall gazed at them without moving. He prepared to duck, but it was too late. He felt a sharp pain enter into his right shoulder, and exit through his upper back. One of the sorceress' javelins had hit him.

Rinoa turned around, only to hear the sound of ripping flesh, emitting from Squall's body. She gazed at him and the ice-spear that ran through his shoulder, horrified.

Rinoa released an ear-splitting scream.

Squall stood there a moment, shocked. Rinoa's scream seemed to fit what he felt now. His eyes squinted at the pain, but that was all he could do. It hurt so badly... How was he supposed to respond? The incredible pain. It was too much. He felt it weakening him at every movement. He could hardly breath. 

Squall looked at Rinoa. Her gaze was comforting, but she was horribly frightened. He turned his attention to the sorceress. Edea smirked with pleasure. Squall thought he could almost hear her chuckling.

Edea twisted her hand around slightly. The motion caused the Icicle in Squall's shoulder to turn violently. He gasped in pain.

Squall took one last look at Rinoa, and began to fall. He tripped over the edge of the parade float, and fell with his back to the street below.

The last thing he saw was Rinoa screaming his name, looking over the edge of the float. She extended her hand, but it seemed so far away... so far...

And then he saw nothing.

***********************************************************************

End chap 16.

Whoa.

That's really all I can say.

Whoa.

Actually, I do have a little more to share with you...

Man alive... I wish that I was playing through the game for the first time. I remember how PO'd I was at this part. I actually thought that Squall had died. But the whole thing was so exciting and new to me...

It was cool.

 I have a question. Do you guys (and gals) like the battle scenes? I mean, I have to explain them a little bit more than what the game shows, because ...well, let me put it this way. If a person, magical or not, gets sliced up with a sword, they basically die... or start bleeding profusely. So, this means that I have to do the fights a little differently because Edea, and Seifer don't really 'die'. Their HP just runs low...(?) Seeing as 'real people' don't have HP, It's not possible to stab someone, and only be taking a fraction of their health away.

Anywayz, I was just wondering if I was doing it in an 'okay' fashion.

Well, this ends the First disk... But not my story!

Chapter 17 is next, and guess what? Its a Laguna chapter!

'yay!'

Stay tuned!

***********************************************************************


	18. Chapter 17: The return of the man with t...

**Chapter 17: **

**Return Of The Man **

**With The Machine Gun.**

  


'Squall' awoke to find himself lying in a small, broken bed. He opened his eyes slowly. The smell of must and mold pervaded in 'his' nostrils. 'He' sat up immediately, gazing about a small, dirty looking room.

  


_"...Not again... Please... Not again..."_Squall thought.

  


It _was_ happening again. Squall had 'entered' the mind of Laguna Loire.

_"…What happened?" Squall thought. _

  


Then he remembered.

  


_"Oh man…the sorceress……We failed… and my shoulder…" _He attempted to reach for his injury, but soon realized that he was subject to the movements of Laguna once again.

  


As Squall tried to think about what to do when he 'awoke', Laguna got up and started moving about the room. Suddenly, he heard small footsteps running up the stairs.

  


A little girl in a blue outfit came running up the stairs, calling to Laguna.

  


"Uncle Laguna! There's someone here to see yoo."

  


The little girl looked up at Laguna with bright eyes. She was only four or five years old, had light brown hair, and spoke with an infantile voice. Laguna thought she was adorable.

  


"Huh? Me? What's this person look like?" Laguna replied.

  


"He was wearin' funny clothes. He's tawking to Raine right now."

  


Laguna folded his arms, trying to think of who could be here to see him.

  


_"It can't be… Ward? Or Kiros, maybe?" _he thought.

  


"Hmmm? Is he at the pub?" Laguna asked.

  


The little girl answered quickly.

"Yup. That's why I came over to get yoo, Uncle Laguna! Am I a good girl?"

Laguna thought to himself for a moment, but then realized what she had just said.

_"She did what?!"_ he thought.

"No, you're not!" Laguna lectured. "It's dangerous to be out there all by yourself. What if a monster comes and attacks you?"

__

_"He's being awfully protective…" _Squall thought. _"…Whatever. I guess she is his niece… He's 'Uncle Laguna' or whatever."_

The little girl hung down her head and rocked on the balls of her feet. She felt ashamed.

"…It's only next door. It's okay." she excused in a soft voice.

"It's still dangerous!" Laguna said harshly. 

He looked at her for a moment. He gazed sorrowfully at her small head hanging down saddened by his lecture, and her tiny feet rocking back and forth…

He couldn't take it anymore. Laguna bent down, and smiled into her face.

"And since your such a cute little girl, the monsters will especially be after you!"

Laguna started speaking in an exaggerated tone, waving his hands around wildly.

They'll catch you and then they'll suck all your blood out! If anything like that should happen, Uncle Laguna's gonna cry…"

_"Oh brother…"_ Squall thought. 

The little girl looked happier now. She smiled a mischievous smile up at Laguna.

"I'll be okay." she said. " I'll just call yoo, Uncle Laguna! You'll come rescue me, right!?"

Then, as quickly as she had spoken, the little girl ran down the stairs giggling in a high pitched voice.

Laguna reached out to grab her, but it was too late.

"H-Hey! Ellone! Wait!"

Laguna ran down the stairs after her. She was quick for having such short legs.

_"Ellone huh…?"_ Squall thought. _"Sounds … familiar…"_

Squall had been coming across a lot of things lately that disturbed him. Not the least of which was this 'dream' that he and the others kept experiencing. But he'd also been hearing about a lot of names and places that seemed strangely familiar to him, and it bothered him that he couldn't quite place a finger on where exactly he'd heard them before.

As Laguna ran down the stairs, Squall finally saw the rest of the house…If it could be called that.

Laguna entered a small area, which seemed to be the living room. Peeling paint was seen everywhere, broken furniture was strewn about the floor, and what looked like bullet holes revealed dry-rot inside the walls.

  


_"What in the world… This place is a dump!"_ Squall thought.

  


Ellone stood by the dirty old coffee table near the wall. She was grinning from ear to ear.

  


"I waited! Am I a good girl?" she asked with excitement.

  


Laguna walked over to her, giving a knowing smile.

"Yes, a good girl." he said. Laguna rubbed her head playfully.

Ellone smiled back and fixed her hair after Laguna was finished.

Laguna walked over to the beaten-up dresser near the opposing wall, and started to write something in a little notebook.

"Dear Ellone's father and mother, Ellone's been a good girl today." he spoke aloud as he wrote. Then he turned to Ellone.

"Right?"

Ellone raised her hand and answered with an emphatic "yup!", and ran out the door.

Laguna smirked at her playful antics. No matter how disobedient she was, he could never stay mad with her or lecture her for very long without Ellone making him smile.

Squall's state of mind was entirely different from Laguna's at this point.

_"…How much longer is this going to last?"_ he thought. _"How many more times will I have to listen to this moron…?"_

Actually, Squall had become slightly used to Laguna at this point. But the confusion of what was going on was immensely frustrating.

Laguna ran out the door, following Ellone's lead. She was waiting for him on the porch to Laguna's 'house'.

"Ellone! Now's your chance!" Laguna encouraged.

"Cha-nce!" Ellone mimicked in her cute voice. 

She started running towards the pub, just next door. Laguna watched her carefully, and then eased off as she went inside.

Laguna Loire put his hands on his hips and breathed deeply.

_"…This is such a nice village…" _he thought_._

_"…Speaking of which… where are we anyway…?"_ Squall wondered.

Laguna looked around, providing Squall with an ample view of the town. They appeared to be in the central square, with several homes and shops surrounding a cobblestone walk area. The simple design of the houses gave a definite small-town feel to the village. Squall could see green hills and forests not far off in the distance.

He was definitely nowhere near Deling city. This was much too rural.

Laguna stepped out into the street. He looked about cautiously, and noticed a rather large catcherpillar crawling out from behind a house.

_"Damn things are getting bigger all the time…"_ he thought. _"…I wish they would stay away from the houses…"_

Laguna whistled, grabbing the monster's attention.

"Hey! Ugly! Come here…!" he yelled.

The monster seemed to take note of Laguna's 'challenge'. It screeched and crawled quickly over to him.

Laguna reached onto his belt clip and released his machine gun. He brought it up to carry with both hands, and pulled the trigger.

_"…Might take a while to kill this one…"_ Laguna thought. _"…He's a tough one…"_

But the Catcherpillar fell dead with but a few shots. Laguna gazed on, surprised at how quickly he'd killed the monster.

_"That's weird… Fells almost like I've got more… more power?"_

Laguna was starting to feel strange. The sensation was familiar, and Squall knew what it was.

_"…He can feel me. He knows that something's going on…"_

Squall didn't realize it during the first couple of incidences, but now it made sense.

_"Some of the battles I've fought like this… They've gone by too easy for some slack-off Galbadian soldiers to win as easily as they have… My junctions must be affecting Laguna… probably the same for Everyone else too…"_

Squall had junctioned several stocks of magic to increase his strength and agility. It was fairly easy to do, but without the aid of a GF, it was probably impossible. Squall knew that Laguna didn't have a GF… So _his_ GFs and magic supply must be acting as if they were Laguna's as well.

_"Thank goodness he doesn't realize it…"_ Squall thought. _"Who knows what would happen if he summoned one of them…?"_

As Squall pondered over this, Laguna walked around the square. He'd forgotten that he was supposed to meet someone at the pub.

  


Laguna saw some soldiers standing guard near the entrance to town. They were Galbadian soldiers, posted on guard duty. Laguna walked up to them and smiled politely.

_"Why are there more soldiers here?" _Squall thought, realizing that Laguna wasn't in his heavy Galbadian uniform anymore. 

  


One of the soldiers spoke up.

  


"You seem to have recovered fully. Perhaps its time you come back to the army?"

  


Laguna just eyed the soldier oddly without responding. He was a young guy, a lot younger than Laguna. Who was he to be telling Laguna when he should come back?

  


Instead, Laguna looked at the two soldiers, and then back at the catcherpillar he'd just killed.

  


"Com'on guys, you could kill some monsters, too…" he said accusingly.

  


The second soldier spoke up nervously.

  


"We're on watch for Estar soldiers. Screw the monsters."

  


Laguna rolled his eyes.

  


"Give me a break guys…"

  


Neither of the soldiers responded. They couldn't have cared less about this town or the fact that monsters were coming in on a regular basis. They were posted here to watch for enemy troops, and that's all that they were worried about.

  


_"Guess I cant blame them too much…"_ Laguna thought. _"Estar's got everyone up-in-arms nowadays… everyone's scared… That bitch of a sorceress isn't going to stop at anything…"_

_"What?"_ Squall thought. _"Estar? Sorceress? …No one's heard from that country in years. They closed off all communication with the world 17 years ago… And what sorceress is he talking about?"_

  


Laguna walked away from the two uptight soldiers. He walked towards the bridge leading out of town, and came across another couple of young troop standing beside it.

One of the soldiers gave a wry smile to Laguna.

"You think that Estar soldiers are really comin'?"

Laguna wasn't sure himself, but he tried to be encouraging.

"That was two years ago, right? They would've been here by now." 

The soldier looked at Laguna with an uncertain gaze.

"But… you never know what a country ruled by a sorceress could be up to…" he reminded Laguna.

Laguna just patted him on the back and started to walk off. He then heard the other soldier speak up.

"Well, I've _been here_ for _two_ years. And boy, is it boring." He said. This soldier was ready for some action. Rookie troops never got sent to the front lines.

Laguna turned back and responded.

"It's a heckuva lot better than what Estar soldiers do. They kidnap little girls, you know? I think they're lookin' for a successor to Sorceress Adel, the ruler of Estar."

The soldier nodded is head in agreement. Laguna continued.

"If they come back here again, I'm sure it'll be for Ellone this time…" His voice trailed off, and Laguna turned away from the soldier. The thought of losing Ellone made him somewhat upset. 

He suddenly came to though, and put his hand to his chest triumphantly.

"Hah! But they gotta go through me!" he said proudly.

The soldier just waved Laguna off and started to head out for a walk. Laguna thought he heard him mumble something about 'rambling on…' and 'idiot', but he just shrugged it off.

Suddenly, Laguna remembered why he'd steped outside in the first place.

__

_"Aww…Crap! Someone was waiting for me at the pub! I gotta go!"_

__

Laguna ran up the street to the pub doors and walked in slowly. He wasn't sure who was waiting for him, but he felt bad for making whoever it was wait so long.

_"God, I'm absent minded…" _Laguna scolded himself.

  


_"No argument here."_ Thought Squall.

As he entered, Laguna heard a familiar voice, lecturing someone harshly.

"…you understand Ellone? Now go to your room and play." 

Laguna saw a woman with long brown hair, wearing a white sweater, chastising Ellone for going outside alone. He stood there as she walked back to the pub counter, frustrated with Ellone's disobedience.

Ellone turned around to Laguna and spoke softly.

"(I got in twouble.)" she whispered.

Laguna smirked.

"(That's cause you broke your promise. Too baaaaddd…)" he teased.

The woman looked up. Her wide eyes narrowed as she glared at Laguna.

Laguna gulped.

"Laguna! Use proper English when speaking to Ellone!" she yelled from the counter.

__

_"… heh heh… looks like I got in trouble with Raine too…"_ Laguna thought.

He looked down at Ellone and whispered.

"(I got in twouble)"

"(Tooo baaaddd!)" Ellone whispered back, mocking reproach.

They both laughed into their hands, thinking that Raine hadn't heard them. She rolled her eyes as she cleaned a glass behind the counter.

Suddenly, a tall, dark skinned man walked into Laguna's field of vision. He wasn't wearing a Galbadian uniform, but Laguna recognized the long braids and knowing smirk all-to-well.

"It's been a while Laguna." The man said.

Laguna looked on with disbelief.

"Kiros!" he said excitedly. Laguna bent down to Ellone and pointed at his friend.

"He's Uncle Laguna's friend, He dresses funny, but he's not a bad guy."

Kiros smirked at this comment. He _was_ dressed rather oddly, in a crimson colored uniform, plated with chest armor. He looked quite out of place in the small village.

Ellone looked at Kiros with an interested stare.

"Yoo dress funny, but you're a good guy, right?" Ellone mimicked.

Raine stared at Laguna for a moment. He seemed to be at a loss for words. She laughed to herself at this.

_"For being such a loud mouth all the time, he chooses now to be quiet… That man is so frustrating…" _she thought.

Finally, she spoke up.

"Aren't you going to talk to your friend?" she urged

Laguna blushed slightly at this. He had already kept Kiros waiting for a long time, and now he didn't know what to say. He walked up to the counter, next to his old friend.

Kiros finally said something.

"You seem well." He said simply.

"Yeah… you too." Laguna replied. He felt somewhat nervous talking with Kiros… How long had it been exactly? 

  


Finally he thought up something to talk about. 

  


"Hey, how long _has _it been? You know, our grand escape from Centra?" he said

Laguna and Kiros put their hands to their chin, thinking.

_"Centra… so that's where we were last time…" _Squall thought.

Kiros thought a moment. 'Grand escape'?

"That was… One would usually call that being chased out."

Raine, who was listening behind the counter nudged Laguna's arm playfully.

"I thought so…" she said accusingly.

Kiros continued.

"Well, I would say about a year or so."

Laguna nodded.

"I was bed ridden for over 6-months. It seemed like every bone in my body was in pieces."

Raine chimed in.

"I nursed him back to health."

Kiros smiled at her.

"Thank you, for taking good care of Laguna." He said. Then he turned to Laguna.

"I was able to recover in about a month or so. Ever since then…" he shrugged his shoulders. "…I've been searching for you."

Laguna looked surprised at this. Searching for him?

"Why?" he asked.

Kiros shrugged is shoulders again.

"After leaving the army… well, just killing time I guess. Life's pretty boring without you as my entertainment my man."

"That's a harsh thing to say." Laguna replied, half-joking. "I've been living a productive life here."

Raine laughed a little. She turned to Kiros.

"I think I know what you mean though." She said.

Laguna glared for a moment at Raine. She gave him her 'oh, you know I'm just kidding look', so he wouldn't feel too bad.

"Well, since you've been out for about half a year," Kiros started. "…What do you wanna know?"

_"Hmmm…"_ thought Laguna. _"What's ward up to?"_

"How's Ward doin'?" he asked. 

"Ward quit the army, too. Luckily, he found a job, and he's working pretty hard." Kiros replied.

"What's he doin'?" Laguna said.

"He's a janitor down at the D-district prison."

"Wow… " Laguna replied with amazement. "Can't picture him moppin' floors, but I'm glad he's doing well."

Kiros added on last thing.

"Oh, and he never got his voice back. You could basically tell what he wants from his facial expressions."

Laguna was silent at this.

_"That was partly my fault. If I hadn't grabbed the wrong map… we would've been able to get out of there without getting attacked by those Estar death-machines…"_

  


Laguna sighed.

_"Ward… I'm just glad you're doing well…"_

__

He then turned his thoughts to something more personal.

_"…I wonder if he's heard anything about Julia…?"_

"How's Julia doing?" Laguna asked nervously.

Kiros looked at Laguna oddly.

"I don't know…" he said.

Raine's ears perked up at this.

"You mean Julia the singer?"

Laguna started to squirm. He didn't want to talk about Julia in front of Raine, but Kiros noticed, and saw an opportunity to have a little fun.

"That's right. Laguna really admired her and always frequented the night club."

Laguna jumped the gun, and became defensive right away.. . though Kiros hadn't actually said what happened between his friend and Julia.

  


"Shut up! So what if I did!?

Raine ignored Laguna's outburst. She wanted to know more.

"Julia use to sing at a night club?"

"No, she didn't sing. She just played the piano." Kiros replied.

"Then, the first song she released was 'Eyes on me'?"

Laguna calmed down a little now.

"H-How does that song go?"

Raine looked at him oddly.

"You don't know?"

"Well, you never let me hear it!"

Raine blushed.

"I didn't know that you listened to music… The song's about being in love… I really like it."

Kiros then remembered something.

  


"Heard she recently got married."

  


"Oh yeah!" Raine said. "To some army general, right? General Caraway or something?"

Squall would have completely ignored this, had Laguna not kept thinking intensely about it, but the mention of general caraways name piqued his interest.

_"General Caraway… Married Julia? …But… that would have to mean that Rinoa was… No. It couldn't be. General Caraway is old and Julia's about the same age as Laguna… Way to young to have a child that old… right?"_

__

"I'm not too sure." Kiros said. He saw how uncomfortable Laguna was getting, so he tried to put the conversation to rest.

Raine didn't get the hint.

"I read in a magazine that her true love went off to war and never came back. General caraway comforted her while she was feeling down. That's how they got to know each other."

Kiros forgot Laguna's discomfort for a moment. He knew who that soldier was.

"…So she didn't wait for the soldier to come back…?"

Laguna could take any more. His eyes widened and he yelled.

"So what! Who cares?! As long as she's happy, right? That's all that matters!"

Laguna, trying to avoid the topic anymore, turned around and lowered his head to speak with Ellone.

"Ain't that right Elle?"

Ellone had been listening in on the whole thing. She could tell what Laguna was talking about, so she decided to put her two-cents into the conversation.

"Uncle Laguna and Raine are…" she started excitedly.

"Ahhhhhhhh!!!" Laguna interrupted. He got up and looked around nervously.

"OK. Enough talk about this!"

_"Thank you…"_ Thought Squall.

Despite how uncomfortable Laguna was with talking about Julia, he really did miss her.

_"Oh well… fond memories I guess."_ He thought.

  


  


***--------------------------PLACE MARKER BONUS!---------------------***

**(Sick of reading right now? Take a break, and find your spot right here when you come back to the story! Oh, and for the bonus… Here's a game tip. Laguna has 3000 gil, which you can spend on items that will be added to Squall's inventory. But if you want the money… too bad! It won't transfer over. You're better off buying some expensive healing items or something… )**

Laguna, Kiros and Raine all stood silent for a moment. Squall was left alone to his thoughts.

_"…Hold on."_ He thought. _"If Laguna took six months to recover… It's been a year since they were in Centra? …But we just 'saw' it happen earlier today… What is going on? Where am I?"_

__

Squall's frustration was intense. Suddenly, Laguna acted as if he noticed it again. 

He and Kiros eyed each other oddly.

"I think the faeries are here…" Laguna said.

Kiros felt something odd as well, but he wasn't quite sure what Laguna was referring to.

"…Faeries?" He started. Then he remembered. Back in Timber, when they had all felt an odd sensation coming over them. Laguna or Ward had said that it was 'faeries' or something when they reached Deling city.

Whatever it was, he felt it now.

"Yeah I guess so…"

Kiros remembered the seeming increase in power that they had all received when they felt this way. But none of them could explain it. It just seemed to happen.

"Then work today should be a cinch." Laguna said.

"I'm looking forward to the battles." Kiros replied. 

Raine had spoken with Kiros somewhat earlier, explaining Laguna's 'Monster patrol' job. Kiros said that he might join Laguna in that today.

Laguna nodded. He was still wondering about the faeries.

_"I know there's something here, but I don't know what it's saying…"_

  


_"It's saying 'get me out of here'!"_ thought Squall.

He shook the thoughts away and tried to focus on the task at hand.

"Well, lets talk later. Time to do some work."

"…OK." Kiros replied, slightly confused.

"So, what's your plan?" Laguna asked as he started towards the door. "You're gonna stick around here for a bit, right?"

Kiros turned to look at Raine.

"Would that be okay?" he asked.

Raine shrugged her shoulders.

"You work for what you eat. If that's fine with you, you're more than welcome."

Kiros nodded, agreeing with her.

Laguna nudged him and they walked towards the exit.

"Well, have fun at work. I'll have lunch ready." Raine called out as they left.

"Come back soon, okay?" Ellone cried.

Laguna waved as he shut the door. He and Kiros started towards the bridge leading to the outer parts of town.

Before they crossed over the bridge though, Kiros stopped Laguna.

"Laguna… I have a simple question… What exactly do you do here?"

Laguna sighed with impatience. He wanted to get started quickly.

"It's like this. All the working men in this town were sent off to war. The only ones still left in town are old people, children, chocobos, dogs and cats. And I'm sure you've noticed, but the monsters have made their way into town." Laguna pointed back towards the square.

"This here town took real good care of me. So basically, I want to return the kindness."

Laguna smiled proudly now, and bumped his fist into his chest.

"You're lookin' at the monster hunter of Winhill!"

_"Winhill…So that's where we are. …Isn't that southwest of Timber?"_ Squall thought.

Laguna continued.

"So as of today, you'll be my assistant. We're to patrol the town up to the town entrance! If we see anyone in need along the way, we help them! That's our basic duty."

Laguna motioned for Kiros to follow him, as he started running across the bridge. Kiros followed in suite.

Across the bridge was a little dirt road, and further down was a small house with a large field of grass beside it. Laguna pointed out several other things to Kiros, showing him around Winhill village.

  


Eventually, they came across some Bite Bugs and Catcherpillars. Laguna and Kiros prepared to kill the monsters.

  


"…I see what you mean about the monsters, Laguna." Kiros said. "…They're pretty big too. You're lucky that these are the only kind that hang out around here."

  


"Yeah." Laguna replied. "…Well, let's see if the faeries can help us out today…"

  


Kiros started slicing through the fat skin of the Catcherpillar. He cut quick and sharp with his Katal wrist-blades.

  


The Catcherpillar was almost dead. In a last resort measure, it spewed silky web from its mouth at it's attacker. Kiros blocked his face from the sticky substance, and attempted to remove it from his body.

  


Laguna was busy with the bite bug. It keep darting around quickly, attempting to spray Laguna with its toxic poison. But for some reason, no matter how many times it sprayed, Laguna wasn't hurt or affected at all by the toxins. He finally made a clear shot at the Huge insect with his machine gun, and killed it with only a few bullets. 

  


Kiros had finally gotten the webbing off from him, and killed the Catcherpillar.

  


After dusting themselves off, Laguna and Kiros examined the dead monsters.

  


"So…. Didn't that seem a little easy?" Laguna asked.

  


"…Yeah. I mean, I felt like I was moving faster, hitting harder… I don't know what this means… but if its anything like before, than I guess it'll go away pretty soon, right?"

  


_"I hope so…"_ Squall thought.

  


"Well, might as well take advantage of it while we can!" Laguna said. "Let's keep moving!"

************************************************************************

  


After killing a few more monsters, Laguna went into a flower shop just down the small dirt road. He wanted to say 'hi' to the old woman who ran the flower shop.

  


As he and Kiros entered, the old woman recognized Laguna immediately. She walked over to him and smiled.

  


"It's been quite some time now since you've recovered from your injuries." She said.

  


"Thanks to everyone in town!" Laguna replied. This particular woman had helped a lot with the medicine that Laguna had needed.

  


"This here town must be quite dull for a young lad like yourself. Perhaps it's time you returned to Deling city." The old woman lectured.

  


Laguna was a bit hurt at this, but he knew that she was just looking out for his best interests.

  


They spoke with her a bit longer, and then returned to their 'patrol'.

************************************************************************

  


Laguna and Kiros started to keep track of how many monsters they'd gotten rid of. After about twenty battles, they'd finished off nearly 34 Catcherpillars and Bite bugs. Usually Laguna only got around to killing about eight or nine. Fifteen if he was having a good day.

  


Eventually they worked their way to the outskirts of town. Laguna was quite pleased with their work.

  


"Alright! Our first patrol complete! We're to report to the commander and assistant commander."

  


Kiros eyed him oddly.

  


"Commander…? You mean that woman at the pub?

  


Laguna turned around, glaring at Kiros. He'd hit a soft spot now, and Laguna wasn't taking it very kindly.

  


"Her name's Raine. Raine, OK!? She saved my life." Laguna spoke as if Kiros had just insulted his honor somehow. But he soon relaxed and continued speaking normally.

  


"And they assistant commander is Ellone.

  


Kiros wasn't going to let Laguna off that easily. He wanted to know what Laguna really thought about Raine… but he knew that asking him straight forward wouldn't get him and answer. No, the only way to learn anything about Laguna was to see how he reacted.

  


"She seems like a really nice person. But easily taken in by a hotshot."

  


Laguna became indignant at this. 

  


"A hotshot?" he said. 

  


_"Fine Kiros, you wanna play it hard, we'll see how you handle the second patrol…" _Laguna thought. 

  


"OK, let's step up our patrol a notch. Assistant Kiros, let's come up with a plan after we get back to the base."

  


Laguna eyed him knowingly. He wasn't gonna insult him and get away with it that easily.

  


Laguna looked around. He still hadn't figured out what the quickest way back to the town square was, as there were several paths leading into that part of the village. He took a different one each time, but always forgot to keep track of how long it took.

  


He noticed a door open to one of the shops in the area, and he looked to see who was coming out.

  


_"Uh-oh…"_ He thought.

  


He tapped Kiros shoulder and motioned for them to get moving. But it was too late, the shop-keep saw him and started yelling. 

  


"…The hell!?" the old man called out. "You've recovered! Now get outta here!"

  


_"…Man, they hate me…"_ Laguna thought, remembering that he hadn't found favor with all the townsfolk. 

  


Kiros gave him an odd glance as they started back to the pub, but Laguna shook his head, signifying that he didn't want to talk about it.

  


Kiros and Laguna walked a long ways before talking. The air was dead silent around them as well, which didn't help.

  


Finally, they came to a large, fenced field, with the path going right through it. Someone had put a 'Chocobo crossing' sign up on the side of the path.

  


Finally, Kiros couldn't take the silence anymore.

  


"Hey, Laguna… Are you doing this patrol thing every day?"

  


Again, Laguna became infuriated at Kiros' comment.

  


"Thing!? What're you callin' THING!?"

  


Kiros sighed. Laguna hadn't changed one bit since he'd `last been with him. Always overreacting and getting emotional…

  


"Weren't you aiming to become a world traveling journalist?" Kiros asked. "You've heard of Timber Maniacs, right? I had a talk with the chief editor. He said he's interested in any article related to world travel."

  


Laguna's eyed brightened as he remembered his old aspiration. He'd still been writing all the time he was in Winhill, but there was no one anywhere near the town that could publish anything.

  


"That's great!" Laguna replied. 

  


Kiros smiled, glad to see that Laguna hadn't given up on his dream.

  


"We should go talk to him sometime."

  


Laguna's excited expression turned into one of disappointment.

  


"Y-Yeah…" his voice trailed off slowly.

  


They walked along a little more, until they reached the flower shop again.

  


"Um… It'd be ok if we stayed here a bit longer, right?" Laguna asked nervously.

  


"You need time to gather more material?" Kiros said. Laguna nodded.

  


"This seems like a really nice town. You're going to write about this place first, aren't you?" Kiros asked.

  


Laguna looked shocked at the very idea.

  


"No way," he replied. "Can't make this place famous. Too much publicity and you get all those tourists and stuff."

  


Laguna sounded nervous as he said this, as if he was hiding something.

  


Kiros knew what it was.

  


_"I guess Laguna has changed a little… He'd never want to settle down in a small town before…"_

  


"You're afraid someone might come and take Raine away? Laguna, you've changed man."

  


Laguna turned his face away. He didn't expect Kiros to understand the way he felt about this town…And about Raine. Besides, it was embarrassing to have your best friends read you like an open book.

  


Laguna quickly tried to change the subject.

  


"Hey I see a monster!!!" he yelled. Laguna ran off towards a loud rustling in the bushes ahead.

  


_"…You have changed, man…"_ Kiros thought. 

************************************************************************

  


"Okay, okay… so it was just a little Chicobo…" Laguna said as he and Kiros walked up to the pub doors. "But I had to check it out, right?"

  


Kiros laughed and gave a wry smile.

  


"Sure Laguna." He said.

  


Laguna entered the pub and looked around. He was surprised to find that no one was there.

  


_"They must be upstairs."_ He realized.

  


He lead Kiros up the wooden steps near the back of the bar, which led to Raine's apartment. As they walked up, Laguna heard to voices speaking.

  


Laguna stopped in the middle of the stairway. He heard Raine mention his name, and immediately assumed the worst.

  


_"Eh… they're talkin' about me…"_ he thought. He motioned for Kiros to be quiet and follow him downstairs again.

  


"(What?)' Kiros said in a harsh whisper.

  


"(Girl talk …lets come back later.)" Laguna excused.

  


Kiros looked oddly at Laguna. What was he talking about?

  


"(Com'on!)" Laguna said.

  


Kiros narrowed his eyes and stood firm.

  


"(Something inside me tells me to listen.)" he whispered.

  


Laguna hung his head with embarrassment. But he wanted to know what they were talking about as well.

  


They heard Ellone speak up first.

  


"Raine… Aren't yoo gonna marry Uncle Laguna?" she said in her innocent voice.

  


Raine was arranging the bookshelf near her bed. Her back was turned, but they could tell from her voice that she was flustered by the question.

  


"A guy like that?" she said nervously, trying to think up excuses.

  


"He was carried in here crying like a baby, and I was the one who had to take care of him…" she said. Her words were pretty harsh, but she sounded unsure.

  


She moved around the room, trying to avoid Ellone's almost-knowing glance. She made up more reasons why she shouldn't want to marry Laguna.

  


"His crude way of speaking…" she started. "I don't know if his aspirations as a journalist are realistic… Every time I try to have a serious conversation, he avoids it… I can't stand his snoring, and he talks in his sleep…"

  


Raine would have went on, but she felt like she was being to harsh. Besides… Ellone didn't buy one bit of it.

  


"But he's really nice!" She argued. "I really, really like him!" 

  


Raine looked at Ellone pleadingly. But Ellone wouldn't give up.

  


"Raine, Uncle Laguna, and Elle should all be together!" she said stubbornly.

  


Raine was about to reply, but she thought she heard the stairs creak. She glanced over towards the barred railing.

  


_"Yikes!"_ Laguna thought as he and Kiros both ducked. _"…That was close."_

  


Raine didn't notice them, and continued her conversation with Ellone.

  


"But you know…' she began. "I think what he really wants to do is travel all over the world. I don't think he has it in him to live in a quiet country town like this one. Some people are like that…"

  


She paused as she thought about Laguna leaving one day.

  


"…Ouuu, it makes me so mad."

  


Ellone was confused.

  


"…You don't like him?" she asked sadly

  


Raine finally gave in.

  


"I feel the same as you Ellone."

  


Ellone, pleased with Raine's response, pulled herself up onto the couch in the center of the room. Her tiny legs dangled over the edge.

  


Raine and Ellone smiled at each other for a moment. Then Raine heard the stairs creak again.

  


"Oh!?" she exclaimed. 

  


Laguna realized that he was about to be caught this time, so he thought quickly. He came running up the rest of the stairs as fast as he could, huffing and puffing as if he'd just came in.

  


Ellone jumped off from the couch and cheered.

  


"Yea! Yoo're back!"

  


"I came back in a hurry!" Laguna exclaimed.

  


Raine eyed him oddly. She felt like he was hiding something.

  


Ellone giggled. 

  


"Report to the commander!" she instructed.

  


Laguna walked over to Raine and stood at attention.

  


"Here's my report on today's patrol and monster extermination!" he began. Laguna placed his hands behind his back. 

  


"Including Buchubuchus and Bunbuns that assistant commander Ellone oh-so-hates… I've exterminated 35 monsters!

  


Raine looked pleased. That was a lot of monsters.

  


"Alright! Thank you." 

  


She looked at Laguna for a moment. He did seem pretty tired.

  


"Well, shall we eat before you get started with the next patrol? I'll call you when it's ready, so just wait in your room. You seem pretty tired. You should take a quick nap."

  


Laguna nodded and smiled. Then Ellone cried out.

  


"Let's eat, let's eat! Let's eat together!" she said. "Yoo're joining us too, right Mr. Kiros?"

  


"Kiros smiled and bowed in his odd way, placing his right hand over the other and lowering his torso. Raine laughed at this.

  


"We have me and Raine and Uncle Laguna and Mr. Kiros!" Ellone said happily. She started down the stairs, skipping along.

  


"Okay then." Raine said. "Just go for a nap, and Lunch'll be ready soon."

  


Laguna and Kiros said goodbye and went off.

  


Upon reaching his room, Laguna started acting strangely.

  


"Time for a little break…" he said. "Shall we rest up a bit?"

  


Kiros noticed Laguna's downtrodden expression.

  


"Hm? What's the matter?" he asked.

  


Laguna looked up at his friend and sighed.

  


"I get scared sometimes." he started. "Scared of waking up somewhere else… Scared of not seeing Ellone…"

  


"Scared of not seeing Raine?" Kiros added.

  


"What happened to me?" Laguna said. "I feel… What is this I'm feeling?" He sighed heavily again, hanging his head.

  


"Oh please let it be this room when I wake up! Please let me be in this puny bed when I wake up!" Laguna said.

  


Kiros didn't understand. For as much as Laguna was the same, he'd changed just as much.

  


"Laguna, you've changed." he said.

  


************************************************************************

End Chap. 17

  


Okay, let me make one thing clear here… 

I STAYED UP UNTIL 12:30 am WRITING THIS CHAPTER!

*Sigh*

So I hope you guys liked it. I hate writing Laguna scenes, but I work really hard on them any way.

  


I dunno what the next chapter is gonna be called yet. Its too late for me to think anymore… I'm just gonna fall asleep right… here…. 

  


(Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…)

|

-_-

**********************************************************************************


	19. Chapter 18: Desert Prison part I

**Chapter 18**

**The Desert Prison**

**Part I**

  


  


_"…Where am I?"_

  


Light seeped into his pupils slowly, as the young man opened his eyes. A heavy, pulsating light.

  


He blinked. He took a breath. The air around him was cold.

  


_"…Where am I?"_

  


Zell Dincht awoke to find himself on a cold metal floor. His face hurt from being pressed up against it, and his eyes were taking some time to adjust.

  


He pushed himself off from the metal surface, and looked behind him. On the wall were a row of lights, blinking slowly.

  


"Ahh, welcome back, Zell. The 'dream world' again?"

  


Zell turned to see Quistis Trepe and Selphie Tilmitt sitting right next to him. Rinoa was there too still in her blue duster, sitting down, hugging her knees. They were all on the floor of some kind of dark holding room.

  


Zell nodded, replying to the question that Quistis asked.

  


"Uh huh." he said.

  


Selphie spoke up.

  


"How's Laguna doin'?"

  


Zell thought back to the dream… He hadn't even seen Laguna.

  


"Dunno… I didn't see him." Zell said, still a little sleepy.

  


Everyone sat quietly as Zell scratched his head, trying to wake up. 

  


"It's not like I know everything about Ward, but…" Zell began. He decided to explain the 'dream' first.

  


"Well, you know Laguna and company went to that Centra place and got in a real fix, right?"

  


Quistis and Selphie nodded, knowingly. Rinoa just sat there, feeling somewhat left out.

  


"After that," Zell continued. "Ward's been all alone. He's working in some sort of prison-like place. And he's bored outta his mind!"

  


Zell rubbed his face. It was still achy from being asleep on the floor.

  


"All he wants is to be fightin' alongside Laguna." he said. Zell rubbed his face.

  


Everyone remained quiet. Quistis, too, had 'dreamt'. She'd waken up only a few minutes before Zell had, but she didn't feel like talking about her encounter.

  


"So, what is this we're experiencing?" Quistis said. She knew that no one had an answer though.

  


"How the hell should I know!?" Zell replied, just as confused.

  


Quistis shook her head, and sighed.

  


Zell stood up. He took a good look at his surroundings and immediately knew what had happened while he was dreaming. They were in jail. Obviously, the mission had failed, and they were all arrested. Where they were exactly, he didn't know. But he didn't even need to ask why they were in prison... They failed. The sorceress was still alive, and now they were going to pay.

  


_"Dammit."_ he thought.

  


Zell walked around the cell a bit. After stretching, he plopped down near Selphie again.

  


She looked sad, but Selphie's spirits were not so easily broken.

  


"Well… since we're prisoners… Shouldn't we be trying to break out of here!?" she said aloud, feisty as ever. She sat on the floor, her knees together, staring at the ground angrily.

  


Everyone was silent at her comment. Right now, escape was impossible.

  


"I wonder what happened to Squall… Did they bring him here, too…?" Quistis finally said. Her head hung down as her eyes stared at the cold floor.

  


Everyone seemed pretty upset. Quistis was depressed and Selphie was angry. Zell was working up to it, but he was too confused and tired to be sad, or get in a rage right now.

  


Rinoa looked off into space, as if she were studying something in her mind. She turned over to Zell and asked him…

  


"Um, didn't you say that Ward was working in some sort of prison?"

  


Zell looked back at Rinoa.

  


"Yeah, so."

  


"And wasn't he from Galbadia?" she continued.

  


"Sure, he's a solider there." Zell replied, unsure about what she was getting at. He pulled on his blue water-pants, adjusting the leg.

  


Rinoa paused for a long time. Zell looked at her for a moment, waiting for her to speak up, but eventually just shrugged his shoulders, and laid on he floor.

  


Finally, Rinoa spoke again.

  


"Correct me if I'm wrong," she started. "but aren't you supposed to be Ward in that 'dream world'?"

  


Zell sat up again, and nodded.

  


"Just now, I was."

  


Rinoa's next question sounded odd.

  


"Does this room look familiar?" she said.

  


Zell glanced around. He cocked his eye, giving Rinoa a confused glance.

  


_"Of all the stupid questi…" _he thought. And then it hit him.

  


It did look familiar.

  


_"Hey? Whoa??? Wait a sec…"_ he thought.

  


I know this place!" He yelled, jumping up from his spot in a rather comical manner. His abruptness startled everyone.

  


"Everyone listen up!" he commanded. "This is the prison that Ward works at! He's a janitor here!"

  


Zell raised his voice, getting excited.

  


"There's so many rooms just like this! It's got to be here!"

  


"There's a prison for political activists in Galbadia…" Rinoa said. "This must be the place where Ward works. Right here, where we are! I'm sure of it!"

  


Quistis couldn't understand their optimism. So what if Zell knew how to get around here? Was that going to help them now? No. Their situation was pretty hopeless as far as Quistis was concerned.

  


"It's no surprise we're in jail. We did attack the sorceress…" she lamented.

  


Zell was still examining the room, looking around and oblivious to Quistis sad comments.

  


"We went up against the president. We'll all be sentenced to death…" Rinoa realized. She, too, became somewhat depressed at this.

  


"That president is no longer in charge." Quistis reminded her.

  


Rinoa looked down at the ground sadly. Quistis was right. Edea was in charge now.

  


"Now that Galbadia's in the hands of the sorceress… What's going to happen to us?"

  


Selphie listened nervously to their depressing conversation She looked back and forth at Rinoa and Quistis.

  


"Things don't look so good…" Selphie observed sadly. She looked about the cell, and sighed unhappily. The cold, gray, metal room was scary and discouraging to Selphie, who was used to seeing bright splashes of color everywhere at Garden. The only color in the cell was the clothes that they were wearing.

  


Zell sat down, frustrated. He tried to remember what he'd experienced as Ward, but couldn't think of anything that would help them right now. The cells were completely unable to be opened from the inside, and all the vents were more than sixteen feet above them on the ceiling. Besides that, they were guarded by a laser-beam detection system.

  


Zell didn't want to just sit and wait, but there was little choice in the matter at this point. He rested his head on his right hand for a moment and thought.

  


_"What's gonna happen to us?"_ he thought, mirroring Rinoa's concern. _"And where the hell is that guy, Irvine? …And where's Squall…?" _

  


Zell thought about his team leader for a moment. He'd led the assault on Edea, just as the General had commanded. But where did the Galbadian soldiers take him?

  


_"Did the sorceress…?"_ Zell stopped the thought and gulped nervously. If they were to be punished, Squall would surely receive a large portion of it, and probably before any of them. What did Edea have in store for him?

************************************************************************

  


_"…Where am I?"_

  


Squall Leonhart sat up on a cold, metal bench. He blinked slowly as his eyes adjusted to the light. He found himself inside a small room, containing a bench, a small toilet, and hard metal walls. Nothing else.

  


He shook his head slightly, making sure that he could control his movements. The dream was over. He was back in the real world.

  


Squall began to think about all that had happened up to the point of his blacking out. He flipped his legs onto the floor, and rested his head in his hands.

  


_"I… challenged Edea… My wound… ……?"_ Squall glanced at his right shoulder. There was no injury. No mark on his skin, no soreness. His jacket wasn't even torn in the spot he'd been stabbed.

  


But he remembered the pain. The incredible, twisting, pain.

  


_"No wound…? How…?" _he thought.

  


He tried to think back. Did he imagine it? Was it only part of the 'dream'? Even if it was… The pain was so real…

  


_"The Galbadian soldiers… We were surrounded."_

  


Squall started to remember. He hadn't traveled to the 'dream world' immediately after hitting the concert below the float. He was unconscious for a moment, but came to, just long enough to see what a miserable situation it had turned into. Galbadian soldiers had encompassed the float within seconds of him hitting the ground. Several stood by guarding him, while the rest rushed the top of the float, and off in another direction.

  


And then Squall remembered something which infuriated him.

  


_"He was there… Seifer, leering down at me."_

  


Squall raised his head, sitting up straight.

  


"Damn you, Seifer!" he yelled.

  


Squall tried to stand up, but fell to the ground on his knees. The metal floor clanged loudly as he hit it, and Squall rested for a moment, his hands and knees on the floor.

  


_"Damn you…"_ he thought. _"Damn you…"_

  


Squall was still a little weakened, he assumed, from the earlier battle. He remained still on the floor, but he continued to hear metal clanging all around him.

  


And then the room moved.

  


Squall shifted around, getting his balance as the metal cell seemed to attach to something, and be pulled away. After more clanging and bumping, the room was silent. Then, in one jerky motion, the holding cell started moving up, like an elevator, except much faster. Squall felt every movement, and started getting sick to his stomach.

  


_"Damn you…" _

************************************************************************

  


  


***--------------------------PLACE MARKER---------------------***

**(Sick of reading right now? Take a break, and find your spot right here when you come back to the story!)**

  


In their own cell, Selphie, Zell, Rinoa, and Quistis heard loud noises echoing throughout the prison ventilation system. Metal clanging together, or scraping against itself, and the occasional human scream. On thud sounded especially loud, and startled all of them.

  


"What, what!?" Selphie screeched. "What was that loud noise?"

  


Suddenly, the cell's sliding door opened, revealing three angry-faced guards. They walked in slowly, all wearing blue shirts, gray guard caps, and they were all carrying guns and night-sticks. All of the prisoners stood up, staring at the guards suspiciously.

  


Zell took one glance at the three men, and was displeased with them immediately.

  


_"I don't like him at all… …"_ He thought, giving the lead watchman a particularly nasty glare.

  


"It's the sound of your friend being tortured." The first guard replied to Selphie's question. He grinned wickedly, quite pleased with himself for giving them the disturbing news. 

  


This particular guard prided himself on being abusively ruff with the prisoners, physically and mentally. In fact, some of the prisoners had come up with a rather appropriate nick-name for him… The 'Mean Guy'.

  


"What!? Whaddya mean!?" Zell yelled as he stepped forward.

  


The guards quickly cocked their guns, pointing them at Zell.

  


"Shut up!!!" the 'Mean Guy' yelled. "Don't screw around with me!!!"

  


The other guards kept their fingers dangerously close to the triggers, waiting for Zell to make a wrong move. Quistis, Selphie and Rinoa stood back, frightened.

  


'Mean Guy' continued.

  


"You understand who's in charge here!?" he screamed. 

  


Zell tightened his lips, and narrowed his eyes. He stamped his foot in utter defiance as the guard marched over to him angrily.

  


"I'm asking you a question!" he said, clutching Zell's neck. He squeezed tightly.

  


Zell continued to stare straight at him. He wasn't afraid of this jerk, and he sure as hell wasn't going to submit to him. Not a chance. 

  


The 'Mean Guy's' nostrils flared with anger and hostility. He released Zell's neck and smacked him across the face, hard, with his night stick.

  


Zell winced as his head was hit. He felt his left temple start to swell up almost immediately, but Zell didn't utter one sound. He remained silent, his facial expressions the only indication of what he felt. 

  


He started to feel blood drip down the side of his face.

  


The guard wasn't satisfied with this, however. He was going to make this kid beg for mercy after the way he'd just acted.

  


_"Little rebel prick…"_ The 'Mean Guy' thought. _"I'll give him hell…Make him scream good…"_

  


One of the guards took aim at Zell with his gun. Zell turned his head away, squinting his eyes. 

  


But the 'Mean Guy' didn't order him to fire. Instead, he kicked Zell in his lower abdomen.

  


Zell clutched his stomach. It hurt like hell, but still no sound came from him.

  


_"Son of a bitch…"_ the guard thought, infuriated. 

  


Now on his hands and knees, Zell was trying to catch his breath. He'd almost recovered when the guard kicked him again. And again, and again. One of the other guards came up and joined 'Mean Guy', striking Zell in the side with their steel-toed boots.

  


They kicked him several more times, every time, in the stomach. Zell's lips quivered slightly, and he started to spit red from his mouth. Selphie, Quistis, and Rinoa gazed on in horror as Zell stayed put there, and took the pain without a single outcry.

  


'Mean Guy' kicked Zell once more, aiming for his ribcage. Zell heard a slight crack inside his chest at this, and gasped at the pain, but he clenched his teeth right away, not wanting to give the guards any kind of satisfaction.

  


_"They're going to kill me…"_ he thought. _"…Bastards… are… gonna… kill me…"_

  


"Stop!!!" Rinoa finally yelled. She was over in the left corner of the cell, nearly brought to tears at the sight before her. Zell breathed an exhausted sigh of relief. 

  


The 'Mean Guy' was about to take aim again, but he rested his foot and signaled for the other guard to stop as well.

  


_"…Thanks… Rinoa…"_ Zell thought, collapsing onto the floor.

  


The guard looked down at Zell contemptuously, and spoke to him.

  


"Oh, I almost forgot." He started. He took hold of a clump of Zell's hair, forcing him to lift his head from the ground.

  


"Hey man, is there a Rinoa with you?" he asked harshly, ignoring the fact that his beating had nearly knocked Zell unconscious.

  


Rinoa spoke up quickly, not wanting the guards to hurt Zell again.

  


"I'm Rinoa."

  


The 'Mean Guy' released Zell's head, looking over to the young girl.

  


"Oh, all right. Then come over here." he said calmly. The other walked over to Rinoa, and grabbed her arm.

  


Zell glanced behind him from his spot on the floor. He was weakened, but he found the strength to yell out.

  


"Whaddya doing to Rinoa, you bastard!?" he yelled with a surprising amount of energy.

  


The 'Mean Guy', still standing near Zell, turned, frowned, and gave him another kick in the side. Zell tightened his stomach, anticipating the hit, but anymore like that, and Zell imagined that he would die.

  


"Stop it already!!!" Quistis yelled, ashamed she hadn't said it earlier.

  


Rinoa's voice came in, trying to calm everyone down.

  


"Stop." she said softly. "I'll go."

  


The guard released Rinoa's arm, and pulled out his gun. He jabbed her in the back, and motioned for her to move.

  


"Rinoa…" Quistis began, giving her an apologetic look.

  


Rinoa turned to Quistis, and smiled slightly.

  


"I'll be fine." she said. She nodded to Quistis, showing that she bore no hard feelings about their earlier confrontation. Rinoa's expression was comforting to her.

  


Rinoa then turned her head towards the cell door.

  


"Let's go." she sighed.

  


The guards led Rinoa through the cell door, as Selphie and Quistis gazed on. Zell lay on the floor, unable to do anything…

************************************************************************

  


Squall got thrown on the floor again, trying to suppress the urge to puke when his cell came to a halt. It slammed down with a loud boom, and remained still. Suddenly, a part of the cell wall flipped open, slamming onto the floor outside of it. Squall heard boot steps walking towards him, and he knew who it was.

  


"Squall, you're pitiful." A cocky voice said.

  


_"Seifer."_

  


Squall couldn't respond. He tried to stand up, but only fell back into Seifer's chest, completely unbalanced. Seifer caught him, and chuckled to himself. He grabbed Squall by his hair, and turned him around.

  


Seifer stood there a moment, glaring into the storm-blue eyes of his rival. He looked at Squall, smug faced. 

  


_" **I** win." _he thought. 

  


Seifer took an even tighter grip on Squall's thick brown hair, as if he was trying to tear it out, and tossed him harshly into the metal wall of the cell. Squall landed on the bench, his head now pounding with pain. Why was he still so weak? What happened to him?

  


_"…Did they drug me?"_ Squall thought, unable to move. _"…Is that why I can't even stand up straight… What did they do to me? …What are they **going** to do?"_

  


Seifer threw back his hand in that commanding way he enjoyed, and gave an order.

  


"Take him away!" he yelled.

  


Two large animals with fiery red fur, and huge paws rushed into the cell on all fours, but then rose to stand on their hind legs only. They took hold of Squall's motionless body, and began carrying it out from the cell.

  


Squall blinked at the sight, but couldn't even muster the strength to fight back. He blanked out, unconscious once again.

************************************************************************

  


Squall came-to quickly this time. He found himself, however, attached to a wall by chains across his wrists and ankles. He blinked slowly, and saw Seifer standing below him.

  


Seifer, seeing that Squall was awake again, spoke up.

  


"I'm sure you can imagine what happens now." he said plainly.

  


Squall struggled. He moved his arms and legs around, trying to free himself from the chains.

  


_"He's going to torture me… Damn." _Squall thought. His strength was returning to him now, but only slightly... Not that it would do him any good. He turned his head and saw parts of the chains and shackles that had blackened over time from being electrified.

  


'Electric-Shock Persuasion'. Just a fancy name for shooting thousands of volts into someone's body, expecting them to either die, or tell the interrogator what he wanted to know. Squall realized that this was part of the punishment either Seifer or the sorceress had chosen for him.

  


"…What do you want?" Squall asked, looking down on his rival with disdain.

  


Seifer took his gunblade in hand, and pointed it right up towards Squall's face.

  


"Tell me what SeeD is. Edea demands to know."

  


"SeeD…" Squall began. He thought a moment.

  


_"…A codename, for Balamb Garden's elite mercenary force… SeeD… Combat specialists…"_ Squall scanned through all the 'definitions' he'd heard for SeeD. And realized that non of them were something that Seifer hadn't heard before.

  


_"…???"_

  


"…Don't you already know?" Squall asked, slightly confused.

  


"I'm not a SeeD." Seifer replied, resting his gunblade on his shoulder. "There must be some kind of secret you're given when you become a SeeD!"

  


Squall glared down at Seifer, rolling his eyes.

  


"There's nothing. Even if there were, you think I'd tell you?"

  


Seifer sighed. He'd expected this.

  


"You're on my 'though-nut-to-crack' list." he said. "Didn't think you'd talk that easily."

  


Squall rolled his eyes again. For all of whatever it was had happened to Seifer, he sure hadn't seemed to change at all. Just the same old cocky jerk who thought he was something special… Only now he had power.

  


"…Geez. I'm, honored." Squall said sarcastically.

  


Seifer ignored him.

  


"So here's a little somethin' for ya." he said, smirking.

  


Seifer snapped his fingers. The prison warden near the torture chamber's control panel responded quickly, tossing down a lever on the wall.

  


_"Why is it taking so long…?"_ Squall thought, anxiously. It took a moment, but then he heard the hum of electricity directly behind him.

  


Thousands of watts started flowing through the wall and into Squall's body, causing him to convulse violently.

  


"Arrrrghhhh…" Squall yelled. He uttered it more in frustration than in pain at first, but the surging energy was quickly wearing him down. Squall's muscled tightened continuously, squeezing more and more with every second.

  


He couldn't breathe.

  


Seifer glanced over to the guard, and he tossed the switch up again. The flow of electricity stopped, and along with it, Squall's convulsing body. He shook for a moment more, but then his body began to loosen up. He hung his head down, exhausted.

  


Seifer looked on at him, smug as ever.

  


"Even if you don't talk, others will."

  


Seifer slide his gunblade into it's hilt, and put his hands in his pockets.

  


"The instructor, the little messenger girl, or that Chicken-wuss… He wouldn't last three seconds!"

  


Seifer laughed loudly, amused at the thought of each one of them enduring this torture.

  


Squall raised his head. What did Seifer just say?

  


_"Th… They're…"_

  


"…They're… all here…?" Squall said, taking shallow breaths between each word.

  


Seifer nodded, still chuckling.

  


"Oh, you bet." he replied. "But since I like you so much, I thought you should go first."

  


Squall wasn't paying attention anymore. He was thinking about everyone who'd been with him.

  


_"Zell, Quistis, Selphie…"_ Squall stopped a moment, hesitating to think about his 'client'. _"…Rinoa? Is she here?"_

  


"I was hoping you'd be there, Squall. So… how'd I look in my moment of triumph?" Seifer continued. "My childhood dream, fulfilled. I've become the sorceress' knight."

  


Squall looked at Seifer again. The what?

  


_"…Sorceress' knight…"_ Squall thought. He remembered back to what seemed like months ago, in Dollet, when Seifer had struck up an odd conversation about his 'dreams'. 

  


_"…His… romantic dream…?"_

  


Squall turned his head, still trying to recover from the energy surge that had ran through him so harshly.

  


_"But… Seifer… Now, you're just…" _he turned his head back, gazing with confusion and pity on the young swordsman below him. He finished his thought aloud.

  


"…A torturer." he said with contempt.

  


Seifer became infuriated at this.

  


"What did you say!?" he yelled.

  


No response. Squall's energy was gone, and he couldn't bring himself to reply anymore.

  


Seifer examined his prisoner for a moment. He appeared to be asleep.

  


"Passed out cold, eh?" he mocked disappointment. "This is the scene where you swear your undying hatred for me!"

  


Seifer took out his gunblade again. He swung it back and forth triumphantly, then raised it to his face, and cocked it.

  


"The tale of the evil mercenary vs. The sorceress' knight…" he said in a dramatic tone. He swung his weapon down again.

  


"The fun's just started, Squall."

  


Still no response.

  


"Don't disappoint me now!" Seifer commanded. 

  


Squall was silent. He was definitely passed out now.

  


He glanced back to the guard, signaling for him to throw the switch.

  


_"This'll wake him up." _Seifer thought._ "…Oh yes, Squall… the fun has just started…"_

************************************************************************

  


"Draw… Cure!" Selphie yelled, attempting to do just that. She drew some magic from her stocked supply, and attempted to cast it on Zell, who was sitting right beside her with a broken rib and badly bruised stomach.

  


"Ow ow ow…" Zell cried out, finally able to release some audible signs of pain.

  


"It's no use." Quistis said. "There seems to be an anti-magic field here."

  


Zell looked dejected. He was able to take the pain okay for a while, but he wasn't sure how badly injured he was. If they had to escape, would he be able to make it without being able to heal quickly? The magic helped a little, but only for a few moments before it started hurting again. He sighed, and even that caused a sharp pain to his stomach.

  


Just then, the cell door opened. A fire-red furred creature appeared, carrying a plate of food. 

  


Selphie, Quistis and Zell looked on at it strangely. It resembled a lion, though it walked on it's hind feet, and had huge paws, front and back.

  


Then, Quistis realized what they were looking at.

  


_"…A 'Moomba'…"_ she thought with surprise. _"They're very rare… What is this one doing here?"_

  


***--------------------------PLACE MARKER---------------------***

**(Sick of reading right now? Take a break, and find your spot right here when you come back to the story!)**

  


The small 'animal' walked in slowly, gazing at the three prisoners anxiously. It took a wrong step though, and tripped over it's right foot. The Moomba fell to the ground, landing on it's rear.

  


A guard outside heard the plate crash.

  


"What was that noise?" he said. The guard ran into the cell, and glared down at the creature.

  


"You again!?" He screamed. The guard kicked the Moomba right in the stomach and it collapsed onto the ground. It was the 'Mean Guy' again.

  


Zell became infuriated at this.

  


_"Damn him… that numskull! I'll stop him!"_

  


Zell stood up and glared defiantly at the guard.

  


"YO! Who do you think you are!?" he yelled, forgetting his own discomfort.

  


Selphie huffed angrily as well. She stood up and put her hands on her hips.

  


"Yeah, you big MEANIE! Stop that!"

  


The guard glared back Zell. He raised his night stick to strike the young man across the face again, but Zell grabbed his arm in mid swing and tossed it back.

  


The guard stepped back in shock, as Zell stomped his foot.

  


Quistis, too, glared menacingly at the cruel guard. Enough was enough.

  


_"…Might as well make a stand right here."_ Quistis thought. _"Might be our only chance…"_

  


"Y-You'll regret those words!" the guard said nervously. He backed away from the prisoners slowly, leaving the Moomba in there with them.

  


"He's so mean…" Selphie said once he'd left. She walked over to the small creature and bent down to it.

  


"You ok?" she asked.

  


The Moomba crawled away quickly, somewhat frightened.

  


"Doesn't work so well, but…" Selphie began. "Cure!" she cried, attempting to heal it.

  


The magic seemed to have a little more effect than it had with Zell. The Moomba shook it's head and rubbed it'd paws across it's red mane, showing signs of returning strength.

  


Selphie smiled playfully at the small creature.

  


_"…It's so cute…"_ she thought.

************************************************************************

  


"Well now, Squall. I'll ask again."

  


Seifer Almasy stood before his SeeD rival, still questioning him.

  


"What is SeeD? And why do they oppose the sorceress?"

  


Squall was awake now. The third round from the electrified torture-wall had caused his body to vibrate continually. It would take a lot to knock him out now, probably enough to kill him at the same time.

  


_"SeeD… Oppose the sorceress…?"_ he thought, fatigued. What did Seifer mean?

  


Squall thought back to all his years as a student, and SeeD cadet. Maybe it was the drugs, or the torture, or both, but Squall couldn't think of any answers to Seifer's questions. Not even believable lies.

  


_"…I'm so tired…"_ Squall thought, his eyes starting to droop. _"…What does he want…?"_

  


A guard walked into the chamber. He moved toward Seifer.

  


"Sir Seifer, the missiles targeted for the Garden are ready to launch." he informed the vaingloriously grinning teenager in front of him.

  


"Excellent." Seifer replied.

  


The guard walked out of the room again, leaving Seifer to his work.

  


"Balamb Garden is to be destroyed on charges of training SeeDs to oppose the sorceress." Seifer said.

  


Squall went wide-eyed at this.

  


_"…WHAT!?"_ he thought.

  


Seifer saw the expression on Squall's face.

  


"It's a pity really. I grew up there, too…" he said with a hint of sadness. Then he smirked. "But orders are orders, and Edea ants it destroyed." He said, pointing his sword at Squall.

  


"…N-No…." Squall stuttered.

  


Seifer ignored him.

  


"After the Garden's gone, the SeeD hunt will begin."

  


Seifer's voice trailed off slowly, thinking about the assignment. He started walking away.

  


"I'll be Edea's bloodhound and hunt down everyone of your kind." he said. Seifer laughed at this.

  


"It'll be fun, Squall. Don't die on me, yet."

  


Seifer turned his attention to the guard operating the control panel.

  


"Continue with the interrogation." he ordered. Then he walked out of the chamber slowly, his gunblade in hand.

  


The warden rubbed his hands together excitedly at this. He Ran over to Squall and gave a menacing stare.

  


"Ready to talk?" he asked gruffly. 

  


Squall rolled his eyes.

  


"…I… don't understand… the question…" he said, taking short breaths.

  


The warden tried his best to intimidate his already weakened prisoner.

  


"Don't mess with me!" he yelled. "Edea says you know something! Now spit it out!"

  


He ran over to the lever again, placing his hand on it.

  


"Talk! What is SeeD all about!?" he screamed. The warden didn't even wait for a reply before he threw the switch down again.

  


The pain flew threw Squall's body. It hurt. And though Squall had become slightly used to it, he only endured the horrible convulsing and constricting just enough to hear his own thoughts.

  


_"SeeD… Aren't we… mercenaries… from Balamb Garden… Special forces…?"_

  


The warden once again shut off the power. But Squall's body was still vibrated uncontrollably.

  


"Hm? Yeah, so!" the warden demanded.

  


_"I… I don't know any… anything… W-Why… do you… keep… asking… me…"_

  


The warden tapped his foot impatiently.

  


Squall glanced over, and hung his head, his muscles still jerking around.

  


_"…Should I lie?"_ he thought. _"No… …Just let me die."_

  


Squall muttered something, just barely audible.

  


"What's that?" the warden asked. He walked closer to Squall, standing right underneath him to hear him better.

  


"Your…" Squall began, finding strength.

  


"What did you say?" the warden yelled.

  


"Your… breath st…stin… stinks!" Squall finally cried. He was embarrassed to have said something so odd, but he was too weak to come up with anything better. He gathered saliva in his mouth, and spat right into the warden's eye. 

  


"Punk…" the warden began, wiping the spit from his face with disgust. "You asked for it!!!" 

  


The warden ran over to the controls again, and twisted a small dial near the lever. He then threw the switch down.

  


He'd turned the electricity up to it's full setting. 

  


"How's that!?" he screamed, tossing the switch up and down wildly. "How you like me now, huh!?"

  


Squall couldn't respond. The lights in the room flickered as the bands of energy ran through Squall's insides. The pain was unbearable. Squall only found it in him to utter these two words in his own mind.

  


_"…Good night…"_

  


In that instance, the world went completely dark for Squall.

  


The warden lifted the lever again and approached Squall's body. He laughed.

  


"Tch! Completely knocked out cold." he mocked. "Hey you two Moombas! Watch him!"

************************************************************************

End Chap. 18

  


Cliff hanger…!

  


This was gonna be combined with the next chapter, but I thought 'Nique, why make things difficult for yourself? 5,000 + words is enough to keep fans happy for a few days, right?'

  


So, that's what I did. And I know you guys are dieing to read what happens next, but your just gonna have to wait… sorry!

(I'm not being a jerk am I?)

Oh, I am so proud of this chapter. I mean, I didn't like the fact that Zell and Squall were gettin' beat on, but I feel really good about the way I wrote it out. Hope it struck a chord with some of you as well!

  


And for the next chapter… dah dah dah! The return of Biggs and Wedge! 

Keep an eye out for chapter 19, 'part two', coming soon!

Ta ta.

************************************************************************

  



	20. Chapter 19: Desert Prison part II

**Chapter 19**

**The Desert Prison**

**Part II**

  


_"What now?"_ Zell thought. The guard had left them in the cell without returning for the Moomba for about two hours. He just stood outside the doorway, looking in nervously every once in a while.

  


The three SeeDs had talked for a bit, trying to keep their mind off of the hopelessness of their situation. Quistis even informed Zell and Selphie that she was no longer an instructor, though, their situation was so bleak, it didn't seem to matter much anymore. Everyone just couldn't keep their mind on any thing positive.

  


"What do we do?" Selphie finally cried out. "Just stay here? We'll get tortured for sure!"

  


Selphie bit her bottom lip and rubbed the back of her neck.

  


"I wonder how they'll torture us? I hope it won't hurt!"

  


Zell looked at Selphie strangely. 

  


_"Never heard of torture that didn't hurt…" _Zell thought, looking dejectedly at the ground. But he understood Selphie's fear. She probably didn't want to imagine the pain.

  


Quistis raised her fist angrily. Her depression had finally given way to anger, and that to determination.

  


"We can't just sit here." she said. "We have to think of a way to escape."

  


"Anyone got a plan?" Zell replied, doubtful.

  


Selphie gazed at the Moomba, and a silly thought came to here.

  


"Well, we could skin this little guy and wear him as a disguise…" she said.

  


The Moomba gazed back at her, horrified by the comment. The small lion-like creature stood up and crawled away from Selphie, shaking nervously.

  


"I'm kidding! I'm kidding!" Selphie said, trying to calm the scared animal down.

  


Zell looked at Selphie strangely again.

  


_"Doesn't sound like you are…" _he thought.

  


_"…I told her that these Moombas can understand our speech…"_ Quistis thought. _"…She shouldn't scare it like that…"_

  


Quistis shook her head and tried to think.

  


"Well, we can't rely on magic here, so we have to go with weapons." she said.

  


Their weapons had been confiscated earlier. Quistis' whip, Selphie's nun-chucks, and Rinoa's Blaster-edge.

  


"We have to somehow get them back…"

  


Zell thought a moment and gazed down at his hands.

  


_"Weapons… My weapons are these fists o'mine!" _he thought. _"I could do some serious damage without weapons!"_

  


Zell got up and struck a triumphant pose.

  


_"It's up to me, baby!"_

  


"Let me go. I'll go get the weapons back!" Zell informed them.

  


"Oh yeah!" Selphie said. "You worked here as Ward, so you know the place!"

  


Zell chuckled nervously.

  


_"Not really…"_ he thought. _"All Ward did was mop the floors…"_

  


"Just leave it to me!" Zell said, putting aside his doubts. He'd already formed a plan.

  


"You two lie down there."

  


Quistis and Selphie eyed each other strangely as Zell walked towards the cell door.

  


"Zell…" Quistis started.

  


"I hope this works…" Selphie worried.

  


"Guard! Guard!" Zell cried. "We need some help! Open the door!"

  


The 'Mean Guy' responded back gruffly.

  


"What's the problem?"

  


"The women are unconscious! I think a snake bit 'em!"

  


"What…?"

  


Zell shook his head.

  


_"A snake? Oh boy, Zell…"_ he thought. _"That was pretty lame…"_

  


But his lie seemed to work. The guard came in and followed Zell over to Quistis' and Selphie's motionless bodies.

  


The Guard examined them a moment as Zell stood by. He scratched his head, confused.

  


_"Here's my chance…"_ Zell thought.

  


He punched the guard in his stomach, quickly knocking him unconscious. Quistis and Selphie lifted themselves from the ground, impressed with Zell's performance. 

  


"Well, I'm off!" Zell said casually.

  


Quistis smirked.

  


_"…I think Squall was wrong not to trust Zell… He seems to know what he's doing…" _Quistis thought.

  


The Moomba raised it's paw and squeaked loudly. It looked up at Zell.

  


"Huh? You wanna go, too?" Zell said, looking down at the bright-eyed animal.

  


The Moomba nodded. It's red mane shook wildly.

  


"Ahh, I guess… Just don't get in the way!" Zell commanded.

  


He motioned for the Moomba to follow him as Zell ran out from the cell, and into the prison hallway.

  


After Quistis and Selphie had put the 'Mean Guys' limp body outside of the cell and shut the door, they took a seat on the floor, anxiously awaiting Zell's return.

  


Zell and the Moomba exited the cell, and found themselves in a large circular hallway, with a huge metal crater in the middle, going down into the depths of the prison. Zell saw stairs ahead of him, going up and down. He also noted a small sign above the stairwell which read, '7th floor'.

  


_"7th!?"_ Zell thought. _"I wonder how many floors this place has…?"_

  


Zell looked around, slightly overwhelmed.

  


_"Where do I start looking?"_ he thought. Zell heard some commotion up the stairwell. It sounded like guards talking.

  


"(I guess up is as good a direction as any…)" Zell whispered to his small companion. The Moomba squeaked in reply.

  


The young SeeD shrugged his shoulders and made his way up the metal steps. He heard the sound of men talking getting louder and louder.

  


Once Zell reached the 8th floor, he saw two Galbadian guard-soldiers standing before a large pile of chains and metal sticks.

  


Their weapons.

  


One of the guards held a long sword with a revolver-butt as the handle. He was gazing at it excitedly through his helmet's eye-piece.

  


_"Squall would hate that…"_ Zell thought as he inched towards them cautiously. He listened in on their conversation.

  


"Look at this…" the guard said, impressed. "SeeD weapons…"

  


He swung the sword flimsily, unable to handle it properly. The other soldier walked over.

  


"Is this what they call a gunblade?" he asked.

  


The first soldier ignored him, still examining the weapons with excitement.

  


"Check these out, a whip, nunchaku…"

  


_"All right…"_ Zell thought. _"Get your hands off of our stuff already!" _

  


He ran towards them, ready to fight. The soldiers heard his loud footsteps across the metal floor, and turned around in surprise.

  


"Y-You, an escapee?" the first soldier asked nervously.

  


Zell looked at the two, and smirked.

  


"Yo, I'm here to reclaim these!" he announced. He quickly jabbed his fists into the first soldiers chest.

  


"Hey! What are you doing!?" he screamed. The guards quickly drew out their short swords, and prepared to attack.

  


Zell ducked and dodged as they swung at him wildly. He back-flipped to avoid one slice, and landed on his feet.

  


The soldiers backed away for a second, amazed, but continued to run towards him. Zell took one look at them, and instinctively started to cast a Fira spell.

  


_"Whoops!"_ Zell thought. _"The anti-magic field…!"_

  


But the magic Zell cast using his GF seemed to have effect anyway. A large field of Fire appeared before him, causing the two guard soldiers to back away.

  


Temporarily blinded, the two guards held their arms up to deter the flames.

  


Zell took advantage of the opening.

  


He lunged forth from the dissipating flame, and rushed the two soldiers. He knocked the first one in his chest, and then a head shot. The other attempted to fight back, but was still unable to see, and took a bad swing at Zell, getting hit in the jaw as he did so. The soldier fell to the ground.

  


Looking at the two KO'd guards below him, Zell grinned and held up his fist.

  


"Piece of cake, baby!" he yelled.

  


The Moomba, who hadn't fought at all, stood over one of the guard's bodies, and growled, swatting at it with his paw.

  


Both Zell and the Moomba struck a similar, heroic pose, and growled.

************************************************************************

  


_"…Don't hit… my face …Stop grabbing my… leg…"_

  


_"Let me sleep…"_

  


"Laguna!?"

  


"_Shut up…"_

  


"Laguna!"

  


_"…Laguna?"_

  


"Laguna!!!"

  


_"Laguna!?"_

  


Squall Leonhart opened his eyes slowly. Harsh light shot in to his bloodshot eyes, constricting the dilated pupils. He blinked, looked around and squinted…

  


He wasn't dead.

  


He felt something grabbing at his feet still, though, pulling at the chains.

  


_"What…? …Laguna…?"_ he thought. What was going on?

  


Finally Squall's eyes adjusted to the light. He looked below his feet with tired eyes, and saw three small animals, standing on their hind legs, staring up at him. One of the animal's opened it's mouth and began to utter sounds. It almost sounded like speech, but it was slurred, and Squall couldn't make heads or tails of it.

  


"What?" he replied. "I don't understand."

  


Another one of the lion-like creatures jumped up and down, yelling excitedly.

  


"Laguna! Laguna!"

  


The animal ran off, out of the chamber doors. The third one however, stationed itself near the torture chamber's control panel, and flipped a small switch.

  


The chain's on Squall's hands and ankles released, dropping him onto the cold floor with a loud thud.

  


The first animal put it's large front paw on Squall's head gently.

  


"Laguna." it said clearly.

  


The creature who had released him joined in.

  


"Laguna! Laguna!" he squeaked.

  


Squall was on his knees, hurt, tired and confused.

  


"Laguna?" he said. He tried to get off from the floor, but he was still too weak.

  


_"…I don't … understand …"_ Squall thought. _"…I don't understand…"_

************************************************************************

  


Zell walked back into the 7th floor cell calmly.

  


"Yo, sorry to keep ya waitin'!" Zell said as he moved towards Quistis and Selphie. The Moomba followed close behind him.

  


Quistis gazed eagerly at him.

  


"Zell, the weapons?" she asked pleadingly.

  


"Voila!" Zell replied, tossing Quistis whip into her hands. He then turned to Selphie and threw her nunchakus at her. Zell hooked Squall's gunblade onto his belt.

  


_"I'll hold onto this until we find him…"_ Zell thought.

  


"Whoo-hoo!" Selphie cried. "Alright!"

  


Zell swung his fist around, sparing with an invisible opponent.

  


"Time to go kick some ass!" he cried. 

  


"YES!" Quistis replied, just as excited. She whipped her weapon about violently, ready to attack.

  


"Right on!" Selphie chimed in, swinging her weapon around excitedly.

  


"Rghhhh!!!" the moomba squeaked, not wanting to be left out.

  


Suddenly, they heard a voice from outside the cell. Someone was coming.

  


***--------------------------PLACE MARKER---------------------***

**(Sick of reading right now? Take a break, and find your spot right here when you come back to the story!)**

  


"Is this the cell with the uncooperative prisoners?"

  


The voice they heard next was a familiar one.

  


"Yes, this is it. Please give 'em something to really complain about."

  


It was the 'Mean Guy'. But the first voice seemed familiar to Zell and Selphie as well.

  


Another voice came in.

  


"Should we be picking on prisoners so soon after gettin' transferred here?"

  


The first man gave a gruff reply.

  


"Just be quiet, and let me handle this!" he said.

  


Zell knew the voices sounded familiar… But from where?

  


Then, the 'Mean Guy' walked in followed by two soldiers. He approached the prisoners slowly.

  


"T-These are the prisoners, Lieutenant Biggs, Private Wedge."

  


Zell's mouth dropped.

  


_"Biggs? Wedge?"_ he thought. _"…It couldn't be…"_

  


The two soldiers finally came into the light. One wearing a heavier red uniform, and the other a traditional blue Galbadian troop outfit. They approached the three SeeDs and examined them.

  


***--------------------------PLACE MARKER---------------------***

**(Sick of reading right now? Take a break, and find your spot right here when you come back to the story!)**

  


Suddenly, the lieutenant went wide-eyed, and pointed right into Zell's face. 

  


"AAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!" Zell, Biggs, Selphie, and Wedge all yelled simultaneously.

  


Zell and Biggs looked each other in the eye. Now Zell remembered where he'd heard the voices.

  


_"Wasn't he a Major before…?"_ Zell thought, eyeing Biggs cautiously.

  


"S-So we meet again!" Biggs stammered. "Now we'll teach you the lesson we should have taught you earlier!"

  


Biggs folded his arms, smug faced.

  


"I know it might seem cowardly to fight unarmed prisoners…" he started. Just then Quistis and Selphie pulled out their chained weapons, whipping them in the air.

  


"…But I hope you appreciate our position. Hey it's a dog eat do…"

  


Biggs stopped, gazing at the deadly armed fighters.

  


"Aaa!" 'Mean Guy' yelled, stumbling over his feet as he ran out of the room. Beating on unarmed prisoners was one thing, but now they could fight back, and he wasn't about to put himself in danger.

  


Wedge turned to his commanding officer.

  


"Uh, they're fully armed, sir…" he noted nervously.

  


Biggs was furious.

  


"W-WHAT!?" he yelled. "H-Ho-How…?"

  


He snorted heavily. The three SeeDs stood there, ready to attack. 

  


_"Little SeeD punks…"_

  


"Ahh, hell with it! Let's go, Wedge!"

  


Zell, Selphie and Quistis ducked as Biggs fired on them with the gun that was attached to his arm. Metal clanged loudly as the bullets ricocheted off the cell walls. Zell ran towards Biggs, ducking, and pushed him to the ground. He then slammed his fist into the lieutenant's gun, damaging it severely.

  


Wedge stayed back for a moment, but drew out his small sword, ready to attack. He hadn't learned how to use the sword properly for magic casting yet, like all officers were supposed to, but he thought he could wing-it. The Galbadian government had spent a lot of Gil on developing the magic-using weapons, but most soldiers weren't well versed enough in the use of 'Para-magic' for it to trouble SeeD.

  


Biggs glared angrily at Zell and kicked him away.

  


"I was demoted because of you!" he screamed. "I'm only a lieutenant now! I'll get my revenge!"

  


_"…So that's why he's not a major…"_ Zell thought. _"…Oh well… he's a major to me… a major pain in the ass…"_

  


Wedge was swinging, unsuccessfully, at Selphie, who kept hitting him in the back with her nunchaku. Finally, he stepped back, avoiding her weapon, and started to cast magic, using his sword.

  


_"How'd that work again…? Just concentrate and press this button…"_ he thought.

  


Wedge inadvertently cast a fire spell on Selphie.

  


_"Yes!"_ He thought.

  


But it didn't work.

  


Selphie seemed to pass right through the flames, completely untouched. Wedge didn't realize that Selphie was using fire typed energy to block, and even absorb to a degree, any fire or fire magic.

  


_"What?!"_ He thought, confused.

  


Biggs was still trying to deal with Zell, though Quistis now joined in, wrapping her hard metal chain around him.

  


Biggs pulled the chain, and Quistis down with it, and laughed.

  


"We're just getting started!" he mocked.

  


Quistis glared up at him from the ground, infuriated. Her eyes shown with a blue light, and two blue beams shot out at Biggs quickly. He fell back, stunned from her Blue magic, and winced in pain.

  


_"What the hell was that…?"_ he thought. _"No matter… I'll show them…"_

  


Biggs stepped back and started to use his own weapon to cast haste magic on Wedge. Wedge shuddered a moment, feeling the energy hit him immediately. He felt much quicker, and started to slice at Selphie once again, much more confident now.

  


But Selphie was a well-trained fighter, and Wedge wasn't used to moving so fast. She whipped her nunchaku at Wedge, hitting him directly in the chest.

  


"Ouch…!" he wheezed. She had hit a detachable piece of his uniform, which slammed into his chest as he did.

  


"They're always trouble…" he whined, speaking of his uniform. 

  


_"Alright…"_ Zell thought. _"Enough of this!"_

  


Zell rushed towards Biggs, socking him across the face again and again. Biggs couldn't keep up with his movements, and started to falter.

  


Quistis, seeing that they now were in control of the battle, decided to have a little fun. She laughed to herself.

  


_"This should keep them busy…"_ she thought. 

  


Quistis started to scan through her magic reserves and found what she was looking for… Confuse magic.

  


She focused, and cast it on Wedge. The soldier's vision became blurry and he was disoriented. But he kept on attacking nonetheless.

  


He took a swing at Biggs, unknowingly.

  


"You idiot! What are you doing!" Biggs yelled. He slammed his arm into the private, knocking him to his senses.

  


"Yikes, what was I doing!?" he replied.

  


Zell rolled his eyes. This was almost too easy. He ran over to Wedge, and clocked him right on the jaw. Wedge fell down, unconscious, instantly.

  


Zell then glared at Biggs, ready to do the same to him, but Quistis attacked first, using a Thundara Spell.

  


"Uh…" Biggs winced. "What's below lieutenant…?" he said, falling to the ground.

  


Quistis stretched out her arms, and tossed the hair from her eyes.

  


_"Too easy…"_ she thought.

  


***--------------------------PLACE MARKER---------------------***

**(Sick of reading right now? Take a break, and find your spot right here when you come back to the story!)**

  


The Three SeeDs stood there a moment, dusting themselves off. Then Zell motioned for them to follow him out of the cell. Now that Biggs, Wedge, and 'Mean Guy' were out of their way, they had to find their leader and their client.

************************************************************************

  


Biggs laid on the cell floor. He blinked slowly, making sure no one was around.

  


"D-Don't think you can just walk out…" he said. He hit a button on his arm and it beeped loudly.

  


Biggs winced. He was hurt, and tired. But those SeeDs were gonna pay…

  


"Ugh." he said. Then the soldier hit the floor without another word.

************************************************************************

  


"Squall should be around here, somewhere." Zell said. He looked at the Moomba which had followed them out of the cell.

  


"You have any idea?" he asked.

  


The Moomba started growling. As if it was trying to speak.

  


"Rrrgghhh…" it started.

  


Suddenly, they all heard footsteps running down the stairs. Zell glanced up, expecting to see more soldiers. He laughed a little, though, at what he saw.

  


Another moomba came bolting down the metal steps. It stopped, noticing the other Moomba, and Squeaked.

  


"Laguna!"

  


The furry creature next to Zell looked up at his friend in disbelief.

  


"Laguna?" it cried.

  


"Laguna!" the other moomba responded impatiently. He motioned for them to follow him, and the first moomba ran on all fours after him.

  


Zell looked on at this with confusion. How on earth did those two animals know about Laguna? And what was more, how did they know how to say his name!?

  


"Laguna?" Zell said, scratching his head. He shrugged his shoulders and turned to Quistis and Selphie.

  


"I don't know why, but I'm feelin kinda lucky!" he said happily. "Let's just go after them. OK?" 

  


Quistis and Selphie nodded at Zell. Their best bet was to follow the moombas around right now, until they knew where to go.

  


Suddenly though, an ear-splitting alarm started whooping loudly. Zell jumped at the sound.

  


"What the…!?" he said, irritated.

  


Speakers sounded out all of a sudden, with an announcer excitedly yelling out instructions.

  


"Warning! Escapee alert! Monsters will be set loose on each floor. If an escapee refuses to surrender, you have permission to kill. The anti-magic field will be lifted.

  


Zell hung his head and huffed loudly.

  


"Tch! The security alarm!" he lamented.

  


"Let's just keep going!" Quistis encouraged. "We're dead if we just stay here!"

  


Zell nodded, and motioned for the girls to follow him.

  


_"So much for their anti-magic field…"_ Zell thought, laughing to himself slightly. _"…Must've been out for quite a while… We were able to cast spells inside the cell earlier…Or maybe one of those moombas sabotaged the anti-magic system…" _

  


The three fighters made their way up to the ninth floor before running into any trouble. Right as they turned a corner, two soldiers leading a gargantuan robot around caught sight of them.

  


"SeeDs, you ain't gettin away!" one of the soldiers called out. 

  


The group of turned around to face the soldiers. Quistis recognized immediately that these were no ordinary soldiers. They'd been specially trained to capture prison inmates, by use of sleep and blinding magic. They were also aided by a golden colored GIM47N, an older model Galbadian robot-weapon. It's bulbous mechanical eyes scanned the area, locking in on the targets.

  


"Be careful!" Quistis advised. "Junction some sleep magic to defend against it if you have any! And don't worry too much about that robot, but be careful… It's slow as hell, but it is powerful if you get hit by it."

  


Zell nodded, acknowledging her. Suddenly, the large robot rushed towards them, swinging it's large metal fists. 

  


"Watch out!" Zell cried, dodging the weapon. 

  


Selphie attempted to do the same, but she was too late. The robot smacked her right in the side, knocking her to the ground.

  


"Selphie!" Zell yelled, still trying to avoid the machine. The two guards simply stood by, assured that their weapon would do all the fighting for them.

  


Zell glared furiously at the robot. He glanced back down at Selphie. She moaned in pain, and he could already see the side of her face swelling up. The machine jumped back preparing to attack again.

  


_"Damn."_ he thought. Zell quickly cast Cura magic on Selphie. 

  


"ohh… Ouch.." Selphie moaned again. She lifted herself from the ground. The swelling had gone down and she looked almost completely better.

  


After gathering herself, Selphie glared at the machine angrily. She focused and began to cast Thunder on it.

  


After getting hit by a heavily charged lightning bolt, the machine simply fell to the ground, and stopped working altogether.

  


The two soldiers looked on in amazement, but didn't give up. One quickly used his short sword to cast sleep magic on Zell.

  


Zell attempted to avoid the energy beaming towards him, but couldn't. He hung his head down and became drowsy instantly. 

  


Quistis was taken aback at this. She needed to respond quickly.

  


_"We're gonna be in a bad situation really quick unless…"_

  


Quistis hesitated to do this now, but she had no other choice. She focused heavily and began summoning Quezacotl. While the Seeds were on the train to Dollet, Squall had assigned this GF to her. And it was a lucky thing now… Galbadian soldiers and weapons would be helpless against this kind of Guardian Force.

  


Blue shards of lightning struck the ground, and the featureless bird formed above the SeeD's heads.

  


It pointed it's beak at the guards and quickly unleashed massive amounts of energy. The guards fell to the ground, helpless.

  


Quistis healed herself and Selphie. Zell came-to on his own after a moment.

  


"Let's keep moving." Quistis said. "…And by the way, we need to be better prepared for that kind of magic…" She pointed at Zell. "These guards will use any kind of blinding or sleeping spells they can get their hands on to stop us…"

  


***--------------------------PLACE MARKER---------------------***

**(Sick of reading right now? Take a break, and find your spot right here when you come back to the story!)**

  


The three SeeDs trudged along silently now. Since every direct route to the stairs on every floor was blocked, they had to go around the large, circular cavity going through every floor of the prison. The large hole seemed to go infinitely far in each direction.

  


_"I wonder how many floors this place has…"_ Selphie thought, gawking at the huge crater.

  


As they were making a circle around the tenth floor, they heard two soldiers coming down the stairs. Zell gazed about quickly, looking for a chance to avoid fighting. He motioned to Quistis and Selphie, and they all ducked into one of the nearby cells. 

  


Zell closed the door behind them quietly, and peaked out the small opening, waiting for the soldiers to move.

  


"Don't get us locked in Zell!" Selphie whined. "Then we'll be in the same situation as before!"

  


Zell looked back at her. 

  


"Don't worry!" he said confidently. "The cell doors are all unlocked. See?" He pushed the door open slightly. 

  


_"They have a really bad security system here…"_ Zell thought. _"Unlocking all the cells during an Escape? What are they thinking?"_

  


"Hey! You escapees?" 

  


A voice from the back of the room startled them.

  


Selphie squealed in surprise, but turned around to see a young man, no more than twenty years old, sitting in the back of the cell. He scratched the dark brown sideburns coming from his beanie hat, looking tired.

  


"Oh…." he laughed. The young prisoner pointed at what Zell had attached to his belt. The 'battle meter'. 

  


"You got a battle meter? Are you guys mercenaries or something?"

  


Zell looked down at the object, confused a little.

  


_"Where'd I get that?!" _he thought. Then he remembered. _"…Must've been in that Tomb me an' Squall and Rinoa were at… I think Squall dropped this when the GF almost KO'd him…"_

  


Zell had attached the small hand-held computer to his belt, hoping to remember to give it back later. He'd seen Squall mess around with it a little on the train ride to Deling. Apparently it was meant to record information on battles.

  


The prisoner continued.

  


"If you play a game of cards against me, and win…" he said. "I'll add something special to that thing for you."

  


"Shhhh!" Zell said, trying to focus on the guards outside.

  


_"Of all the dumb ideas… Play cards? At a time like this?"_ Zell thought. He peeked outside the window. The guards seemed to be assigned to this area, blocking their path of escape.

  


Zell sighed. 

  


_"Well, I guess there's nothin' else to do but wait… I'll watch the guards… maybe Selphie will keep this guy quiet for a bit…"_

  


"Yeah yeah…" Zell started. "Selphie, will you play cards with him while I keep an eye on these guards? They aren't moving, and I wanna avoid a fight for as long as we can…"

  


Selphie sighed heavily, but agreed, seeing as they really couldn't do anything now but keep low. 

  


They could've taken on the guards easily, but Zell wanted to make as little commotion as possible on their way to find Squall and Rinoa. It was just safer that way.

  


_"He's really acting quite mature for a first year SeeD…"_ Quistis thought, observing Zell's behavior. _"He's excellent at taking the lead… unlike me…"_

  


Zell heard the prisoner and Selphie setting up their triple-triad cards. Selphie always kept a deck in her pocket.

  


"Alright… but I charge 300 Gil per game…" the young man said. 

  


Selphie rolled her eyes. But it wasn't that much money so she agreed, and they started playing. The prisoner gulped as he caught sight of Selphie's deck. She had collected some powerful cards.

  


Zell sat down near the door, waiting for the guards to leave the floor. He quietly cast some cure magic on himself, remembering that he still had a broken rib.

  


_"Man… Finally able to take care of that…"_ He thought. Actually, Zell had hardly noticed the pain while he was fighting. Now that he was sitting still with nothing to do again, it hurt. But he finished the spell and felt his chest area. It was still a little sore, but the magic had worked, and his rib was mended.

  


Zell heard Selphie and the prisoner finished their game. Quistis was standing quietly, over in the corner.

  


"Ah, you beat me…" The prisoner lamented. "Okay, a promise is a promise… Let me see that battle meter."

  


Selphie smiled at this. 

  


"Hey Zell!" she whispered. "Toss me Squall's… uh… computer thing!"

  


Zell lazily tossed the battle meter into Selphie's hands. She gave it to the prisoner excitedly.

  


'Whatcha gonna do with it?" she said, examining the small device.

  


"You'll see…" he said. The prisoner started pressing buttons and realigning wires. He pulled out a small computer chip from his pocket and inserted it into an opening.

  


"Just move this part around…"

  


"There you go." he said after a few minutes. "Now you can look at even more detailed records. I expanded the memory, and recording capabilities. The TDI chips should transfer information a lot faster now too…"

  


Selphie scratched her head, a little confused at this, but took the device back gladly. Selphie didn't know much about computers. She only used the one's at Garden for class, and to post the Garden festival information online.

  


"I'm sure Squall will love it!" she said happily, glancing over to Zell and Quistis. 

  


She noted the dejected look on their faces, and remembered where they were.

  


"…If we find him…" she said sadly, her voice trailing off. 

  


Everyone stood there a moment, silent.

  


Zell peaked out the window once again. He couldn't stand all this waiting. Happily, he noticed that the guards were gone.

  


"Okay Let's go!" he yelled.

  


Selphie waved goodbye to the prisoner, and followed Zell and Quistis out the cell door.

  


Zell quickly ran towards the stairwell again. Now that he was healed, Zell felt confident that they could fight their way out… But first they had to find Squall. He jogged up the stairwell.

  


"Where did those moomba-things go off to?" Selphie asked. "I haven't seen them since we left our cell…"

  


"…They just ran up… the way we're going." Zell replied, not slowing down.

  


They reached the 11th floor, then the 12th. 

  


"Hey! There they are!" Quistis cried.

  


The two moombas that they had encountered earlier were making their way up the flight of stairs to the 13th floor. The three SeeDs followed them as fast as they could.

  


Upon reaching the top of the stairwell, Zell, Selphie and Quistis were taken aback.

  


"Whoa… different, finally." Zell observed.

  


They were no longer inside the cell containment area. They'd reached a hallway leading deeper into the prison's control center… An area which prisoners were definitely not supposed to have access to.

  


They walked further down the hall. Zell led the way around a large crater-like opening in the floor. They were above every cell floor in the building.

  


Suddenly they came to the end of the hallway. What they saw surprised them.

  


A large group of moombas standing before a large metal door, all squeaking. 

  


"Laguna! Laguna!"

  


Zell glanced at the door. On the floor before it, it read, 'torture room.'

  


Zell walked closer to the door. He examined it carefully.

  


"S'up, guys? Somethin' there?" he said.

  


The moomba nearest to the door moved away. The door sensed Zell's body, and slid open, releasing deathly cold air from inside.

  


Zell looked back questioningly at Quistis. What were they supposed to do?

  


Quistis urged on, motioning for Zell to go in. Zell gulped, but move his feet forward quickly.

  


What they saw when they entered the chamber both overjoyed them and frightened them at the same time.

  


"Squall!!!" Zell cried out happily.

  


Squall was leaned against the wall of the torture chamber, right below metal shackles and chains. Three moombas were gathered around him with concerned looks on their faces.

  


Zell noticed the dark circles around his eyes, and the dejected look on his face. Squall always frowned, but not like this. Not with this kind of shame and otherworldly stare. Something was wrong.

  


"You OK!?" Zell said as he, Selphie, and Quistis, approached Squall.

  


Squall nodded slowly. He was actually happy to see his companions again, but was so emotionally distraught from what had happened…

  


"It was hell…" he blurted out. 

  


Squall pushed himself from the wall in anger. He walked steadily towards Zell and the others two SeeDs.

  


Zell looked at their leader with pity. What had they done to him?

  


_"I can't imagine what they did…" _Zell thought. _"…We just gotta get outta here…"_

  


"Let's just get the hell outta here!" Zell said. Then he remembered something. Zell unhooked the weapon from his belt.

  


"Catch!" he said, tossing Squall's gunblade into his hand. 

  


Squall caught it, glad to have his weapon back. He felt a certain amount of safety in carrying his gunblade again. 

  


_"…Good to have this back…"_ Squall thought slashing at the air. He then calmly attached the sword to it's hilt.

  


"Thank goodness you're alright." Quistis said, relieved . "Let's go."

  


The three moombas, now standing apart from the group, all started squeaking again.

  


"Laguna! Laguna!"

  


Squall looked at them with a blank stare. They'd been calling him that for the past few hours. 

  


"Squall, _are_ you all right?" Selphie asked with concern. She gazed at the back of his head with her bright green eyes pleadingly. She knew that Squall was a bit of an introvert, but didn't he want to talk about what he'd just been through? It was obvious that the guards had tortured him severely. Even if he hadn't said so, the look of injury, both inside and out, was on his face.

  


Squall turned away from the moombas and simply nodded to Selphie. He wasn't 'okay', but he didn't want to complain about anything too much. Even the brutal violence he'd experienced.

  


_"Why should they worry about it…?"_ he thought. _"We're just going to get out of here, and that's all there is to it."_

  


The moombas squeaked 'Laguna!' some more. Squall was confused by their persistence.

  


_"You know… Laguna?"_ He thought, gazing back at the creatures. He shook his head, and led himself and his companions out the chamber door. Zell Quistis and Selphie looked at him for a moment, worried, but decided to simply let him be for now.

  


Now was the time to focus their minds on one thing… Escape.

************************************************************************

End Chap 19.

Things are heating up eh? Lots of battles, and 

just a little suspense to keep things interesting…

  


I think that this chapter should suffice for now. It was gonna be longer, but I decided to take it easy this time around… I'm trying to get ahead of myself in the writing of this, so I can update on a more regular basis later. Trust me, when the time comes, you'll thank me. ^_-

  


Next chapter! Finally, we reach '20'. Kind of exciting huh? We get to see Rinoa again, (But unfortunately, also Irvine.) And we witness the daring escape from the desert prison!

  


That's All I got for now. I'm staying away from writing very long author comments now… I think it detracts from the story a little…

  


Catch ya later!

************************************************************************

  


  



	21. Chapter 20: Desert Prison part III

**Chapter 20**

**The Desert Prison **

**Part III**

  


The prison was dark and it was permeated by the smell of cold metal. The group of SeeDs, once again led by Squall, made their way out of the torture room.

  


Zell stopped Squall once they were out in the hallway. Squall's eyes still looked tired and worn, but he seemed to be regaining some vitality. He looked at Zell, his arms folded. 

  


"Didn't you come here as Laguna in the 'dream world'?" Zell asked.

  


Squall thought back, trying to remember.

  


"…… No." he finally said.

  


Quistis put her hand to her chin.

  


"So Squall doesn't know how to get out, either." she lamented.

  


Zell thought for a moment.

  


"Well… Either way, we kept goin' up and up." he said. "I think we better head back down."

  


Selphie just stood there as they planned. Her legs were sore, so she stretched a little as everyone spoke.

  


Quistis thought about how long it'd taken to just reach the 13th floor from the seventh.

  


_"There must be a better way…"_ Quistis thought. She was tired too.

  


"It'd be a pain to go down every floor." she observed. "The alarm alerted monsters and guards everywhere."

  


_"Yeah it would be a pain.."_ Zell thought. _"Speaking of that though…"_.

  


"By the way, how the hell did they carry you up here, Squall?" Zell asked.

  


Squall pointed behind them, into the hole. A large machine that possessed clamps and platforms, was right in their line of sight. On top of it was a small operating room, apparently attached to the whole structure. It looked like a huge mechanical arm with a fist at the end.

  


"Whoa!!!" Zell cried. "What's this!?"

  


"It's like a crane that can carry a detachable cell from downstairs." Squall explained.

  


Selphie ran over to the edge of the hole, and peered down.

  


"Oh, so this big hole goes all the way to the bottom." she noticed. "So if we jump ALL the way down, we're outta here."

  


Selphie looked back at everyone, and smiled mischievously.

  


"Go ahead if you want to be squashed like a pancake." Quistis replied, rolling her eyes.

  


Suddenly, Zell cried out startling everyone.

  


"Oh yeah!!! I remember now!!!"

  


_"Ward did this once…"_ he thought. _"I know how!"_

  


"We can move this arm by using the panel above and the control room." Zell suggested. "I remember Ward doing this."

  


Squall thought about what Zell was suggesting. Use the arm to go down, the same way they'd brought Squall up. Though they could, and probably would, run into trouble with the guards, but Zell's idea sounded like their best option right now… maybe their only option.

  


Zell continued. The plan was perfect, except for one thing.

  


"But we need to operate them both at the same time." he started. "Someone needs to stay upstairs and control the panel…"

  


Selphie and Quistis looked at each other, and then at Zell. Both of them knew who it had to be. Then they walked over to him, and put their hand on each of his shoulders.

  


Zell looked back and forth at them in surprise.

  


"…Me?" he said. Selphie and Quistis nodded assuredly, but with compassionate looks on their faces. They didn't want to leave him behind, even for a little while, but Zell knew more about the control panel then any of them.

  


Zell was tempted to argue. He didn't want to get left behind… but he was the only one who could even make a guess at how to operate the crane. If anyone was gonna escape, Zell would have to operate the upstairs panel.

  


"F-Fine…" Zell said, hanging his head. "I'll give you instructions from upstairs. Everyone get inside."

************************************************************************

  


Squall led Quistis and Selphie into the crane's overhead chamber. It was a tiny compartment, but large enough to hold them and probably two others.

  


"So, this is the arm control room." Quistis observed. She gazed about the small room apprehensively. Wires and cables were strewn about the floor, along with electrical tools and other gadgets. The place was kind of a mess.

  


_"Hope this thing is stable…"_ she thought. _"It should be… Galbadia puts a lot of money into their prisons…"_

  


A voice came in over the speaker.

  


"Yo, can you guys hear me?"

  


"Hiya Zell, loud and clear!" Selphie said, jumping up and down. The room swayed slightly as she did.

  


Squall put his hand on his hip.

  


"So, what do we do?" he asked, giving a slightly annoyed glance at Selphie.

  


"Press the red button on the main panel." Zell replied. Squall heard Zell flipping switches and pressing buttons as he spoke.

  


Squall hit the large red button. The crane arm started up, it's engine purring loudly.

  


"I'll take care of the rest……." Zell said.

  


There was a long pause. The machine was running, but they didn't move. Suddenly, the room jerked down.

  


Zell cried out over the speaker.

  


"There!" 

************************************************************************

  


Squall, Selphie and Quistis reached the third floor of the prison when the arm stopped. The machine slowed down and hummed as its' engine died out. Squall walked out of the compartment and looked around. It was what appeared to be a dirty parking area for the crane arm. There were tools scattered on the floor, and oil stained the walls. The room was dark and large cords of wire ran through the top of it's walls. They were definitely near the bottom level of the prison.

  


"Heeey, so what are we going to do now?" Selphie said as she looked around.

  


In front of them was a large metallic wall, with flashing red safety lights blinking slowly. A metal walkway made a bridge over to a large passageway. Overhead lights lit the way across the bridge.

  


"Well, there's a door over there." Squall replied. He took a step forward, but stopped hesitantly.

  


_"…Where does it lead to, I wonder…"_ he thought.

  


"And?" Quistis said impatiently.

  


_"What's he doing? We have to explore around here if we're going to find a way out…"_

  


Squall looked back at her and shrugged his shoulders.

  


"….Let's check it out." he offered.

  


Squall walked over to the door. Upon opening it, they found a small, hexagonal shaped hallway. It was a dead end.

  


"Can we get out?" Selphie asked. She looked around for another opening, but saw none.

  


"If only we could get out of here…" Quistis thought aloud.

  


Squall walked to the end of the hall. The wall there was marked with a large gray 'X' across the red and black striped metal. He examined it closer and noticed something intriguing.

  


_"…This is a door."_

  


Squall pushed on the wall piece harshly, with a perplexed look on his face. He suddenly felt something push back hard, and the wall started to collapse.

  


Squall ran back as the wall came crashing down, being pushed by tons and tons of dark, black earth. Selphie and Quistis jumped back, frightened.

  


Squall looked at the mess. A huge mound of sand poured in before him, about half his height. Where did it come from?

  


"Sand…?" he said. He looked deeper into the opening he'd created. That was all he could see… Dark, black, sand.

  


***--------------------------PLACE MARKER---------------------***

**(Sick of reading right now? Take a break, and find your spot right here when you come back to the story!)**

  


Quistis and Selphie gazed at the mound in bewilderment.

  


"… Buried…? You mean we're underground?" Quistis said, worried. She sighed heavily and put her hand to her head.

  


"In any case, we can't get out from here…" she said in a frustrated tone. She combed back her auburn hair. 

  


_"All of that for nothing…"_ she thought.

  


They all stood there thinking a moment. Suddenly they jumped at a loud noise. It sounded like machine guns shooting at metal. A lot of them firing all at once, too. 

  


"What was that?" Selphie asked, frightened.

  


"Gunfire?" Quistis guessed.

  


The sound got louder now, more machine guns firing rapidly. What was going on?

  


"Sounds pretty bad…" Squall said.

  


"……"

  


Everyone stood there, quiet. Was the sound coming towards them? If so, how? The only other room down here was the crane maintenance area.

  


Quistis and Selphie both gasped in shock as they realized that the gunfire was not coming from this area… It was sounding from the loudspeakers in the crane's operating compartment.

  


"ZELL!!" Quistis and Selphie screamed together.

  


Quistis turned to Squall and put her hand to her chest with concern.

  


"Let's get back, quick!" she said, agitated.

  


Squall nodded, his face grim, but anxious. He rushed over to the crane arm again, leading Selphie and Quistis.

  


_"I hope we're not too late…" _Selphie thought. 

************************************************************************

  


"There he is! Over there!!!"

  


"Seize the escapee, dead or alive!!!"

  


Zell Dincht ducked and dodged as best he could. He hid behind a control panel and tried to clear his mind. Could he take them? Zell glanced over the panel and counted upwards of ten soldiers, all armed to the teeth.

  


_"Tch! Too many! I'm outta here!"_ he thought. 

  


The guards had finally caught him in the control room, and now he was in a tight spot. His only chance was to make a run for it.

  


He heard the guards stop firing to reload their machine guns. Now was his chance.

  


Zell ran down the steps and back onto the hall just above the cells.

  


_"No where to go but… down…"_ he thought. 

  


Zell gulped and ran as fast as he could towards the stairs leading down to the cells. He was able to make it all the way to the eighth floor before they caught up to him.

  


"Get 'im!" 

  


Two guards were coming quickly behind Zell, still clumsily trying to reload their weapons. Zell didn't look back though. He simply kept running.

  


_"Where am I gonna go?!"_ he thought frantically. 

  


A few shots from a machine gun encouraged Zell to pick up the pace.

  


_"…Ehhhh… Ah hell with it!" Just keep going man!"_ he told himself.

  


Zell ran as fast as his legs would run. Past the 13th floor, the 12th, 10th, and 9th .

  


As he ran down the steps and started around the hole on the 8th floor, Zell quickly remembered Quistis advice about the magic that the guards carried, and started junctioning his supply of 'Sleep' magic, so that he'd become unaffected by the guards spell.

  


_"Should have taken Quistis advice earlier…"_ he thought, trying to arrange the magic with his GF. 

  


_"Oh well, it'll help now!"_

  


As Zell turned the corner, he caught the stairwell in sight_._

  


_"Just gotta make it there… then I'll take it a little slower…" _he thought. Just then, he felt something hit his head.

  


"Ugh…"

  


Zell skidded across the ground, his eyes closed. He just barely heard the voice of a guard above him.

  


"You bastard…"

  


Zell blinked and saw one of the wardens pointing a gun down at him. Zell quickly came to, got on his feet and covered his head.

  


_"This is it…"_ Zell thought. _"Goodbye…"_

  


"DIE!!!" The warden yelled, his hand precariously close to the trigger. Suddenly, a dark figure came rushing down at the guard, and swung his gun handled weapon into the warden's back.

  


"Uh..!" 

  


The warden fell to the ground. He wasn't dead, but the blow from the heavy weapon knocked him to the ground. 

  


Squall hadn't really cut into him as much as he'd meant to, but the guard was unconscious nonetheless. One less thing to worry about.

  


Squall stood above Zell and the unconscious warden. He looked down at the prison guard with contempt.

  


"Didn't think he'd go down that easy." Squall said.

  


Zell opened eyes, and looked up.

  


"Squall!!!"

  


Zell's legs felt like rubber. He'd nearly died right there. If it hadn't been for Squall…

  


He fell to his knees and gazed up at the brave SeeD.

  


"Thanks, man!!!" he exclaimed. Zell grabbed hold of Squall's belt, and gazed up at him thankfully.

  


Squall cocked his eye, perplexed at this, and tried to step away.

  


"W-What!?" he said, trying to shake Zell off of him.

  


Squall _never_ liked it when people did things like this… groveling. It was very embarrassing, not to mention irritating.

  


_"Alright, Zell… that's enough…"_

  


"Let go." Squall commanded in a harsh tone. 

  


Zell didn't budge.

  


"I said let go!" Squall commanded again. He yanked on Zell's hair, pulling his head away.

  


_"Dammit…"_ Squall thought. 

  


He knocked Zell over the head with the butt of his gunblade. Finally Zell flinched and released him. He got back on his feet, and rubbed his head, wincing slightly.

  


Squall looked away, feeling very awkward. Zell stood there, still in shock from nearly being killed.

  


_"…I've been in danger before…"_ Zell thought. _"But… never been almost taken out, without any way to defend myself!"_

  


"Squall! Zell!" Quistis voice came out from above. She ran down the stairs from the top floor to meet them.

  


"I'm glad you're all right." she said. They'd all heard gunfire on their way down to the 8th floor, but Squall ran ahead leaving her and Selphie up top.

  


"Squall, why did you go on your own?" Selphie started. "Is Zell that important to you?" She asked innocently.

  


Squall and Zell both turned away and blushed at this. Squall rolled his eyes, and Zell scratched his head nervously. 

  


_"Whatever…" _Squall thought. _"…I … He… … …Whatever."_

  


Suddenly, machine-gun fire came from the opposite side of the crater. Squall, Zell, Selphie and Quistis all ducked down and hid behind the metal chasm's wall. Selphie and Quistis crawled along, getting closer to the others.

  


"There's no way we can get outta here!" Zell cried.

  


Squall felt bullets whizzing above his head. Zell was right. Heavily armed guards shot with out any restraint from the other side. If the SeeDs made one wrong move, they would be shot to death.

  


But the machine guns stopped firing as two louder shots rang out. It sounded thicker, and heavier than the automatic weapons that the guards were using. In fact, all of the guards stopped shooting and two of them cried out.

  


"Argh!"

  


"Ugh!"

  


The guards fell. Then, two more heavy shots sounded.

  


_"A… shotgun?"_ Squall thought. _"Galbadian soldiers don't use shotguns…"_

  


The room was silent now. No shooting. Everyone could smell the smoke emitting from the fire-arms.

  


All of the SeeDs looked in the direction that the counter-shots had come from, near the stairs that Quistis and Selphie had just descended. They heard a young woman's voice.

  


"Com'on!" she said. "Stop trying to act so cool!"

  


They saw a young man in a cowboy hat walking down the stairs, only to be kicked by a young woman in blue. He fell down and crumpled up at the foot of the stairwell.

  


The girl continued.

  


"Gee," she started sarcastically. "…if only you had agreed with me earlier, we wouldn't be in this mess."

  


Squall walked towards the stairs. He saw Irvine Kinneas on the floor, and his 'client' on the steps above.

  


"Squall!!!" Rinoa yelled happily. She squatted down and hugged her knees, smiling.

  


_"Squall's alive! I knew he would be. Squall's okay!"_ she thought.

  


"Yeah!" she said in an elated voice.

  


Rinoa skipped down the stairs, like a overjoyed little girl. She stepped onto the floor, and stopped right at Squall's feet.

  


The two gazed at each other for a moment. Squall didn't know what to say. His own relief and joy upon Rinoa's arrival shocked him. She just stood there, happily gazing at him with her almond-shaped brown eyes… and he felt good. Knowing that she was okay, seeing her here gave Squall an overwhelming sense of repose… He didn't know what to make of it, though. Squall began to feel awkward, just standing there, gazing at her. Thankfully, Quistis ran over.

  


"Rinoa, you're all right!" she said, ignorant of the uncomfortable silence between the two.

  


Irvine moaned from his spot on the ground.

  


"Uh huh." he said. He shook his head and smirked.

  


"Of course." he started, balancing himself. "Courtesy of my escort."

  


Zell glared over at the sharpshooter. He still didn't like him.

  


"What's that supposed to mean?" Zell asked.

  


"Ah…" Irvine scratched his neck, trying to come up with something. Rinoa interrupted before he had a chance to say anything though.

  


"My father pulled some strings with the military." she explained. "He told them to get me, and only me, out."

  


Irvine tried to come up with an excuse, before Rinoa explained too much.

  


"Then …"

  


Rinoa put her hand to her head in frustration and disgust.

  


"So this guy here…" she started. "He came and got me. Just me! Knowing you were all captured!"

  


"Ahh, that's…" Irvine tried to say again.

  


"Isn't that horrible?" Rinoa said, looking up at Squall.

  


Irvine sighed.

  


"Alright, alright…!" he said. "I said I was sorry."

  


_"So much for my 'escort'…"_ he thought.

  


Rinoa ignored him.

  


"That's why I'm here to help!" Irvine continued.

  


Rinoa huffed loudly and turned around.

  


"After I scratched you to death." she said, putting her hands on her hips.

  


Irvine stepped back at her frightening glare.

  


"uh… A-A-Anyhow, now's our chance." he said, trying to change the subject.

  


Squall was finally able to clear his mind enough to speak now. He forced himself to focus.

  


"The basement door is buried in sand." he explained, somewhat awkwardly.

  


"Of course it is." Irvine replied. "This place is buried underground."

  


Squall looked confused.

  


"Buried?"

  


'That's right. This prison is…"

  


Irvine was cut off by a loud voice across the way.

  


"There they are! It's the escapees!"

  


Machine-gun fire started right away. Everyone ducked except for one person.

  


Irvine pulled out his gun and fired at the guards, aiming perfectly. But the guards kept shooting.

  


"Squall!" Irvine started. "You choose two to take with you, and head on up. I'll hold 'em here with the others."

  


"Up?" Squall remarked, covering his head.

  


Irvine fired two more shots. The guards fired back without stopping.

  


"Don't have time to explain now! The exits up there, trust me."

  


"…….. OK." Squall said.

  


Rinoa spoke up.

  


"I think I know the way!" she cried.

  


Squall nodded to her and pointed at Selphie.

  


"Irvine…" Squall started. "I'm taking Rinoa and Selphie with me. You, Zell, and Quistis follow us as soon as you can, got it?"

  


Irvine nodded, keeping his eyes on the guards across the way.

  


Squall led Rinoa and Selphie up the stairs. Once they were out of harms way, Irvine backed up to the stairwell. He'd stayed within the guards range too long already.

  


"My turn to boogie now." Irvine said. He fired another shot, keeping the guards at bay.

  


Zell and Quistis looked at each other nervously. There lives, like his shotgun, were in Irvine's hands.

************************************************************************

  


Squall, Rinoa, and Selphie quickly ran up the stairs, passing the 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th floors.

  


"Do you think Irvine is going to be ok?" Selphie asked.

  


Squall shrugged his shoulders, still moving quickly.

  


"I dunno." he replied. "I told him to follow us as soon as he could…"

  


Rinoa stayed close to Squall as they moved along. She was so relived to see him alive. Back in Deling when he'd been run through by the sorceress' Ice spears, Rinoa was more frightened than she'd ever been. Now that she knew Squall was all right, she breathed easy, even though they were still in a terrible predicament. She didn't even give a thought to why Squall's shoulder didn't appear wounded.

  


_"I'm just glad he's okay…"_ Rinoa thought.

************************************************************************

  


"Oh, man, this is endless!" Irvine cried as he shot at the guards.

  


Zell was hunched against the wall glaring up at Irvine.

  


"Yo, what's our next move!?" he asked.

  


Irvine fired two more rounds as he thought.

  


"Hmm…"

  


Minutes passed. Irvine and the guards kept exchanging shots, so for the moment, there appeared to be no way out.

  


Suddenly, Quistis raised her voice in excitement.

  


"I got an idea!" she cried. "Can't we go up again with the arm?"

  


Irvine smiled as he fired two more shots. He kept his eyes focused firmly on the guards across the chasm, but he thought about Quistis idea... It could work. 

  


"Hey, good idea." he said, starting to lower his gun.

  


"But they gotta operate it from that room upstairs." Zell reminded them.

  


Irvine shrugged his shoulders and smirked.

  


"Leave that to me." he said self-assuredly. Irvine tipped his cowboy hat. "Alright! Let's head to the floor where the arm's stopped." he said.

  


Quistis, Zell and Irvine crawled along the floor of the prison. Luckily, they were heading down now, and were right by the stairwell leading to the floors below.

  


"The arm should still be on the third floor of the prison." Quistis informed them. "That's where we left it…"

  


Luckily, they were right next to the stairwell. Had they gone up, the guards would have had a clear shot at them, but they needed to push on deeper into the bowels of the prison.

************************************************************************

The lower floors of the prison were not heavily guarded. Irvine led Quistis and Zell down until they reached the third floor.

  


They stepped down into a very different area; The maintenance garage for the crane arm. Irvine approached the machine without hesitation.

  


"Hey! Hop on!" he said.

  


************************************************************************

  


Squall, Rinoa and Selphie made their way to the area right above the 13th floor. To their surprise, two moombas were waiting above the stairs.

  


One approached Squall.

  


"Yeee, Yeee, Thaa, Thaa." 

  


The moomba placed a small bottle in Squall's hand. It was healing medicine for GFs.

  


Squall gazed at the creature, flabbergasted. Then, the other moomba came up. This one spoke more clearly.

  


"LLLaguna! HHHead. CCConfuse. RRRururururun."

  


Though Squall couldn't understand exactly what it was saying, he took the animal's advice. Squall motioned for Rinoa and Selphie to follow him, and they made their way to the control room which Zell had been caught in earlier.

  


Squall climbed the stairs to the area and threw the doors open. He was surprised for a moment, at it's size. They stood before a huge circular room, with one control panel near the center. There was a window peering out to the crane.

  


"This is it." Rinoa said. She pointed to a stairwell beyond the control panel. "There's another room up there, and then we're out."

  


Squall nodded silently, and they walked over to the flight of stairs. Once they reached the top, there was another large room ,just as Rinoa had said. Squall, however, ignored the equipment. He saw what appeared to be daylight coming in from a large opening, and walked quickly towards it.

  


_"Finally, we're outside…"_ Squall thought, relived to be able to breath some fresh air.

  


They found themselves on a large balcony, attached to a bridge which led across to another area. The sun was beating down harshly from the sky, and the brightness made it hard to see what exactly was on the other side.

  


Not that they cared.

  


"We're outside!!! We escaped! We escaped!!!" Selphie said dancing around ecstatically. 

  


Suddenly, they heard a loud voice over loud speakers which immediately discouraged Selphie's celebration.

  


"Prisoners may not go beyond this point. You will be terminated, a mechanical recording commanded.

  


Squall looked across the long metal bridge. A soldier and two Galbadian robots were coming across at them, fast.

  


"They're coming!" Squall warned, drawing his weapon.

  


"You're not going anywhere!" the soldier called out. He stood behind the two machines, ready to give commands.

  


The two powerful weapons stood at attention, their skinny legs and huge torsos being balanced by the advanced robotics inside. GIM52A. The most advanced Galbadian robot currently in use.

  


Squall quickly began casting Protect on himself, Selphie and Rinoa. The GIM52As possessed a system of Micro-missiles; tiny rockets that locked in on one target. With the protect magic, they would still feel some of the missiles' hits, but it would block them from the explosion and any permanent injury that might ensue.

  


The robots began to use their weapons, sending missiles flying in Squall's direction. He averted his eyes from the blasts, but was kept safe by his shield.

  


Quickly, Squall returned the favor, slicing into the machine harshly. He pulled the trigger on his gunblade just as he swung down, releasing an explosion which protruded the blade even further into the GIM52A's metal frame.

  


The machine began to falter at this, but attacked back, knocking Squall to the ground.

  


"Ugh!"

  


Squall leapt up quickly, and cut once more into the robot. It fell to the ground, buzzing frenetically.

  


***--------------------------PLACE MARKER---------------------***

**(Sick of reading right now? Take a break, and find your spot right here when you come back to the story!)**

  


The red-suited soldier gulped, but started casting magic on the remaining unit.

  


Squall, Rinoa, and Selphie watched as the machine began to glow a bright yellow. This was a spell which Squall had never seen before. He observed the robot cautiously. What was the magic doing to it?

  


The robot hummed with energy now. It began to attack everyone fiercely, and with much more power. 

  


Rinoa rolled onto the ground, avoiding the GIM52A's blows, and shot her blaster-edge at the soldier.

  


_"I'll let Squall deal with that… thing…"_ she thought. _"But that soldier can't keep casting magic on it if we're gonna get out of here…"_

  


The soldier fell back at Rinoa's advances. The blade of her weapon had cut into his uniform, damaging the magic control system. She saw this and smiled.

  


"Yes!" she said.

  


Squall was busy in a dead-lock with the robot. He motioned for Selphie to attack while he was keeping it busy. She was happy to oblige.

  


Selphie swung her nunchaku at the mechanical beast, leaving deep dents in it's metal covering. She continued to do so until she heard a loud clanking inside the robot's chest plate.

  


_"I think I got it."_ she thought, stepping back.

  


Squall was pushed to the ground and the robot began attacking fast and hard.

  


_"It's got so much power…"_ Squall thought, dodging as best he could. _"Is it that spell?"_

  


The robot was indeed stronger than before, but it began to slow down, and Squall heard it's mechanical insides begin to die down quickly. Finally, it fell to the ground. Squall stabbed his sword into it's body, just make sure.

  


As Squall and Selphie finished off the robot, Rinoa continued to fire her blaster edge at the soldier, who kept getting knocked down, or too scared to move every time she shot it. Finally, Rinoa's weapon hit him in the helmet with a loud clang, and the elite soldier fell to his knees, either dead or unconscious.

  


Squall put his hand on his hip, and breathed heavily. Was that all? Or would they have to fight more.

  


Suddenly, loud beep and a fuzzy voice came in from a distance. 

  


"Hey Squall, can you hear me?"

  


Selphie looked around in surprise, and Squall turned his head, curious. It sounded like Irvine, only with a lot of static in his voice. 

  


Squall walked back into the control room, followed by Selphie and Rinoa.

  


Irvine spoke up again.

  


"Hey! Hey, you guys!" he said, trying to get someone's attention. 

  


Squall looked around a control panel. He heard their voices coming from a speaker, but he couldn't find the device that would allow him to respond.

  


Another voice came in over the radio. It was Quistis.

  


"Is this what you were talking about? What if Squall and the others have already gone ahead?"

  


Squall looked around and found the radio piece he was looking for. He pressed the button and spoke into it.

  


"I can hear you." he said.

  


Irvine spoke up excitedly.

  


"See! I told you we'd be alright. Squall, go ahead and operate the arm."

  


Squall rolled his eyes.

  


"How?" he asked impatiently. 

  


He heard a little struggling over the radio, like someone grabbing it out from Irvine's hand.

  


Zell spoke now.

  


"Squall, push down the yellow button on your upper right hand side."

  


Squall looked around. He was never good at finding things on a complicated control board like this.

  


"_Is this it?" _he thought. Squall hit the button.

  


There was a pause for a moment, but then Irvine came in again.

  


"Alrighty!" he said. The arm had started moving them up. "We'll be there in like a second. Wait right there."

  


Squall heard the hum of the crane over the radio. It sounded… different.

  


Zell noticed something odd as well.

  


"Hey… Is it supposed to move this slow?" he asked.

  


Irvine replied causally.

  


"So what? What's the rush?"

  


Rinoa giggled. Zell's personality was cute, and kind of funny to her.

  


"Looks like they'll be just fine." she said. 

  


Squall shrugged, and started back outside. They hadn't really been able to plan an escape route, or even take a good look at their surroundings, because of the soldier and robots.

  


"let's cross that bridge…" Squall suggested. "We still don't know how to get out of here."

  


Squall led Rinoa and Selphie outside again. They stepped out onto the platform and started across the bridge to the rusty red building on the other side.

  


In the middle of the walkway, Squall felt the wind blowing harshly. It nearly knocked him over. He glanced at Selphie and Rinoa. They felt it as well.

  


"What the heck?" Squall thought. He turned his head to look over the edge of the bridge.

  


Nearly 1000 feet below them was the desert floor. 

  


the bridge was connected to two towers that stood high above the ground. Another tower behind them created a gigantic tri-tower structure, all connected by skyways. Except for the rusty red tops of them, the towers all looked like enormous screws, drilled into the desert.

  


The group gawked at the tremendous structure…. It was incredible, and frightening.

  


"So…" Selphie began. "How do we get down?"

  


Rinoa shook her head in disbelief.

  


"No way…!" she finally said. "When I came in earlier, it wasn't like this…"

  


Squall didn't understand either, but they couldn't just stand there and question everything.

  


"Let's just head for that structure over there." he suggested.

  


They began running across the bridge, a bit more carefully now. Rinoa and Selphie ran ahead quickly. They reached the opposite side, but just as Squall was catching up to them, something happened.

  


Intense grinding and clanking of metal was heard. Squall gazed about in surprise as the side rails of the bridge came down. He was about to make a sprint for the platform, but the metal plating of the bridge started to slide in, leaving an empty space everywhere there had been a panel.

  


Squall quickly began running in the opposite direction, attempting to outrun the transforming structure.

  


_"Can't do it…"_ he thought, gazing back. _"Gotta find another way…"_

  


Squall leapt off the platform, just as a panel slide out from under his feet. Squall grabbed hold of the lowered side-rail, and hung precariously from the edge.

  


Rinoa and Selphie gazed in dread as Squall hung desperately. Rinoa called out urging him.

  


"Squall! Hold on!!! Over here, hurry!!!"

  


Squall barely heard Rinoa's voice. The grinding noises were getting louder and more intense. He looked down and saw the desert floor coming closer and closer to him.

  


_"What's going on?!"_ he thought. Suddenly, Squall saw a huge cloud of sand coming up to him fast. The wind caused by the moving structure turned into a devastating storm.

  


"…Is it drilling into the ground?" he thought, closing his eyes. Squall started moving towards the opposite balcony now. His only hope was to reach Rinoa and Selphie before he got sucked into the tunnel.

************************************************************************

End Chap. 20

  


ugh. Too many chapters in the prison…

  


I have to be honest here.. I hate writing battle scenes.. they're so boring.. plus they're hard to describe. But I hope that they find favor with you.

  


*Takes sip of tea*

  


Gotta start on chapter 21 now. (Don't you just hate how casual I'm being after such an intense and exciting cliff-hanger?)

  


I'm gonna have a really hard time choosing a party for the next one. I'm considering the ever popular, Squall-Rinoa-Zell combo, but I'll give it some thought.

  


Catch ya later.

************************************************************************

  


  


  


  


  


  


  



	22. Chapter 21: Decision

**Chapter 21**

**Decision**

  


  


  


"That was way too dangerous, wasn't it…?"

  


Rinoa looked up at Squall with concern. He'd nearly been killed by the earth-probing towers. Now all that remained was the three rusty tower tops. The rest of the towers were locked tightly in place, underground, along with the Galbadian prison guards.

  


"Yeah." Squall replied plainly. The day had been filled with nothing but utter pain and stress, and now it just seemed so calm… it was a bit disconcerting.

  


Irvine scratched the back of his head.

  


"I thought the arms were movin' kinda slow. They had the submerge system on."

  


They were all standing inside the tower that Selphie and Rinoa had crossed over to, before the spires had delved into the ground. Irvine, Zell and Quistis had made it as well. After the spiral pillars had drilled into the earth, they simply crossed the desert to the opposing section.

  


They were in some kind of garage now. Two cars were parked there, ready to go.

  


"Let's just get going." Squall replied.

  


Squall shook his head at how quickly their situation had changed. It was a bit disturbing.

  


_"If it can go from near-death to an easy escape like this…" _he thought. _"What's to prevent it from getting bad again?"_

  


No one seemed to share his skepticism, though. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

  


"I wanna ride the yellow one!" Selphie said, pointing to a vehicle.

  


She walked over to it and climbed in.

  


Quistis shrugged her shoulders.

  


"I'll take that one, too." she said, following Selphie.

  


Rinoa looked around.

  


"Okay" she said. "me, too."

  


Rinoa ran over to the yellow car. Now it was all filled.

  


"Hey, hey, hey! Ladies?" Irvine began, disappointed.

  


Zell rolled his eyes, and pointed to the other vehicle.

  


"Let's go, Irvine." he said.

  


Squall, Zell, and Irvine all piled into the dark, gray, Galbadian military vehicle, and pulled away, along with a brightly colored yellow one following behind them.

************************************************************************

  


After about 45 minutes of diving, they reached a fork in the desert road. Selphie signaled for Squall to pull over.

  


Selphie ran out of the transport and climbed atop a rusted old car frame. They were still in the middle of a harsh desolate atmosphere, and the sandy wind blew in her eyes. She looked around the desert, trying to figure out where they were.

  


"What"? Squall said as he dismounted their vehicle.

  


Everyone had come out now. They all looked up at Selphie, except Quistis.

  


"The sorceress is about to launch missiles at Garden!" she yelled.

  


"That's what Rinoa heard from Irvine!" Selphie cried back anxiously.

  


Everyone grimaced. Squall suddenly remember that Seifer had informed him of this as well.

  


"The only thing we can do now is go back to Garden as soon as possible and warn the students." Squall announced.

  


Everybody looked at the ground. Nervously.

  


"Alright, let's get in the car and go." Squall commanded.

  


Selphie jumped up and down excitedly atop the broken frame.

  


"They're targeting both Balamb and Trabia Gardens!" she squealed. "We have to interfere with the launch! We have to stop the missiles!"

  


No one knew what to say or do. The loss of _one_ Garden could mean disaster for just the remaining two…But _two_ Gardens?! That would be catastrophic for SeeD to say nothing of the other students. 

  


Irvine sighed.

  


"So like… I understand how Selphie feels, but…"

  


He seemed reluctant. Irvine wasn't even a SeeD, and he'd already played a part in a major jailbreak. What if their luck ran out, and they got caught…? Could he handle the pressure? Irvine was sure that he couldn't.

  


Quistis glared at Irvine.

  


"This isn't just about Selphie." she said.

  


_"…This affects all of us… you included…"_ Quistis thought.

  


Zell spoke up, and stomped his foot to the ground.

  


"…I'll do whatever Squall decides!" he said.

  


Squall looked at the ground uncomfortably. What was Zell talking about?

  


_"…I was the commander for the sorceress' assassination… not this…"_ he thought.

  


Rinoa put her hand to her chin, thinking.

  


"Hmmm… stop the missiles…" she said. Rinoa looked over to Squall. "You should talk to Selphie about it."

  


Squall sighed with frustration. He knew that something had to be done to stop the missiles, probably an invasion of the missile base. He didn't like Rinoa ordering him like that, but nodded and approached Selphie. As he mounted the car frame she was standing on, she became edgy and distraught.

  


"I just transferred from Trabia Garden!" she cried. "I can't just sit around knowing that Trabia Garden is in danger! So Squall, please! Decide who's gonna go to the Galbadia Missile base, before it's too late!"

  


Squall folded his arms. Apparently, he _was_ still in charge.

  


_"It's easier said than done… What if something happens to the party members I choose…?"_ he thought.

  


After a moment of silence, Rinoa spoke up impatiently.

  


_"…I'll prove to them that I can help out too…"_ she thought.

  


"Let's take a vote!" Rinoa proposed. "Squall will decide on the party… and Squall will return to Balamb because he's the leader. Anyone against this plan, please raise your right hand!"

  


No one moved. Everyone seemed to think that it was a good idea.

  


Rinoa gazed up to Squall.

  


"I don't mind which team you put me on." she said, trying to sound mature.

  


Squall looked at her oddly for a moment.

  


_"But you're an outsider…"_ he thought.

  


Quistis looked up at Squall as well now.

  


"You're the leader, Squall." she said. "What are the teams?"

  


Squall frowned and looked into the distance.

  


_"Leader? I never asked to be the leader"_ he thought.

  


Suddenly, everyone jumped at the sight and sound of streaming smoke flying through the sky. The sound of missile engines roared furiously through the open sky.

  


Everyone gazed in shock. The rockets had come from an area, just barely visible, down the road. Selphie gasped as she realized that they were but only a few miles away from the missile base…They could've made it there earlier… but now it was too late… at least for one Garden.

  


"I… heard they were hitting Trabia first, and then Balamb." Irvine sadly informed them after a long silence. 

  


Selphie sat down, her bottom lip shaking intensely. The desert wind sounded much louder now. No one said a word.

  


"Is that sorceress for real!?" Zell finally exclaimed.

  


No one replied. Everyone seemed lost in thought.

  


"Oh… The soft side of me is coming out…" Irvine said quietly to himself.

  


_"…Poor Selphie…"_ he thought.

  


Quistis finally looked up at Squall. Even if it was too late for one Garden, they could save Balamb. A missile base team was still needed.

  


"Squall, you decide. It's part of a leader's responsibility." Quistis urged. 

  


Rinoa chimed in.

  


"Yeah… everyone's pretty much decided…" her voice trailed off, sadly. "We have to do something…"

  


Squall continued to gaze at the missile base in the distance. How could they have missed it? It was right there, staring them in the face. Squall frowned at the building.

  


"Trabia… I'm sorry… I couldn't stop it…" Selphie lamented. "Please let everybody be all right. Please…"

  


Selphie pulled her self up and turned to Squall.

  


"That was a miss… right…?" she asked, hopeful. She shook her head, and leapt down from the frame without allowing Squall to respond.

  


"Squall, we have to report to Balamb! Who are you taking?" Selphie demanded to know.

  


"C'mon, Squall!" Zell urged.

  


Everyone was getting impatient.

  


"You have to decide, Squall!" Quistis said.

  


Even Rinoa kept putting in her thoughts.

  


"Squall, think carefully now!"

  


Squall put his hand on his hip. He wished that for just one moment, they would stop relying on him.

  


_"I've had it up to here with this leader thing… Alright, alright… I'll choose."_

  


"I'm on the missile base infiltration team!" Selphie announced. "I have to be! They launched missiles at MY Trabia!"

  


Squall nodded his head, considering who to take… and who to send.

  


_"Selphie'll need someone with experience to help her… so I think Quistis should head on to the missile base… And Irvine is Galbadian… he could help Selphie keep a low profile around the soldiers… hopefully…"_

  


Squall weighed the options in his mind. If he sent Quistis and Irvine…

  


_"Then I should take …Rinoa and Zell with me to Balamb…"_ he thought. He considered this carefully, and then announced his desicion.

  


"Quistis…. Irvine…" Squall began. "You two go on with Selphie to the missile base. Me, Zell, and Rinoa will go to Garden and notify headmaster Cid…"

  


Everyone nodded and began separating into their groups. Selphie, Quistis and Irvine gathered near the yellow vehicle.

  


"This mission is unlike any other," Squall began, nearingn the gray Galbadian vehcile. "It's not an order or a request from anyone…"

  


Squall looked at Selphie. She was a talented fighter… but he doubted her battle skills at times. Her personality was usually so capricious… Could she handle this?

  


"Selphie, do you have some kind of plan?" Squall asked.

  


Selphie looked back at Squall, slightly nervous.

  


"I think if we take this Galbadian army vehicle, we should be able to make it inside the base. But… that's about it. I'll have to think about the rest once we're inside." she replied.

  


Squall looked at her, unsure.

  


"Do you think that'd be ok?" Selphie asked, quite unsure herself.

  


Squall rolled his eyes.

  


_"Asking my permission? …How much does a leader have to decide…"_ he thought. _"I'm getting really sick of this…"_

  


Selphie saw his irritation and blushed, embarrassed.

  


"I'm sorry…" she said. "I mean, thanks."

  


She looked down towards the base. They needed to hurry.

  


"There isn't much time! You better hurry to Balamb Garden!"

  


Squall nodded, satisfied. 

  


"See you at Balamb Garden." he said.

  


Selphie turned to walk towards the army vehicle, but she turned around and smiled.

  


"Squall! Hurry!!!" she cheered.

  


************************************************************************

  


Squall, pulled into an old train station, just minutes away from the spot where they'd separated from Selphie's team.

  


It was a small station, meant only to transport Galbadian soldiers and some equipment. There was a somewhat worn-out train parked right next to the covered platform.

  


Squall dismounted the Galbadian vehicle, followed by Zell and Rinoa. He looked around, keeping an eye out for soldiers or guards. 

  


"Let's take that train." he said.

  


Squall motioned for Zell and Rinoa to follow him, and they moved quietly behind the locomotive. They overheard some men talking behind the train, so kept low to avoid detection.

  


_"This is cakewalk…"_ Zell thought as they approached the engine car.

  


A guard dismounted the car, onto the opposite side, as they came closer.

  


Squall quietly led them up into the car, and started the engine. The train gave a loud whistle, and the engine began to chug determinedly.

  


Zell looked behind them as the train slowly started to move. The formerly oblivious soldiers were now enraged and confused as the locomotive gained speed, the engine roaring and chugging along loudly.

  


One soldier started running after the train. But it was too late. They were moving away too fast.

  


"Hey! STOP!!!"

  


"Yo Squall, some dork's comin' after us." Zell informed him.

  


Squall kept silent. There was no way for whoever it was to catch up, so he just cranked the engine for more speed.

  


Rinoa spoke up, sounding concerned.

  


"Squall, he's coming after us!"

  


Squall just shrugged his shoulders.

  


"S-Stop the train!!' the soldier yelled, becoming exasperated.

  


"Hey… This guy's not bad." Zell commended.

  


"ERAGGHHHHHH…!" the soldier screamed. "C'mon!"

  


"Sorry." Rinoa called out, feeling somewhat sympathetic towards the soldier. "Sorry. It's an emergency!"

  


The train sped up, faster and faster along the tracks.

  


"ARGHHHHHHH!!!" the soldier yelled as he fell to the ground. The train sped off, leaving the soldier in its wake.

  


Zell laughed, shaking his head.

  


"…Later, sport."

************************************************************************

  


"C'mon! To the missile base!" Selphie cried.

  


The Missile base was actually across a large river, as they found out after driving up to the body of water. So Selphie had to find a way around it to get near the base that they assumed was so close. She drove about the area until their surroundings started to become familiar.

  


_"…We're almost to Deling city…"_ Selphie thought with surprise.

  


She quickly oriented herself, and soon found her way around the river. The Missile base came in sight immediately.

  


_"Here we go…"_ Selphie thought, crossing her fingers. _"…Oh, but how are we gonna get inside…They'll be suspicious of us for sure if we look like this…"_

  


"Hey Selphie… " Irvine started. He was rummaging around in the back of the car. "These might come in handy, right?"

  


Irvine suddenly held up three galbadian uniforms.

  


"What on earth…?! Oh, Irvine that's perfect!" Selphie cried excitedly. She pulled over to the side of the road for a moment.

  


_"…heh heh heh… Chalk up one 'love point' for the sharpshooter…"_ Irvine thought.

  


"Okay… " Selphie began. "We have to get changed into these uniforms, now! Hurry!"

  


"…Hey, All right…" Irvine said in a suspiciously interested tone.

  


Quistis gawked, wide eyed and open mouthed at Selphie. Surely she didn't expect them to undress in front of Irvine… Did she?

  


"Selphie…" Quistis began hesitantly. 

  


"What?"

  


Quistis nodded her head back towards Irvine, grimacing as she did so.

  


Selphie looked back at Quistis Trepe, confused for a moment. But the young SeeD giggled as she realized what her companion was worried about.

  


"Quistis… I didn't mean get _naked!_" Selphie cried, giggling uncontrollably now. 

  


Quistis blushed and put her head in her hands.

  


_"…Selphie…"_ she thought with irritation.

  


Irvine was taken aback at this, half-surprised at Selphie's outspokenness, and half-disappointed at her objection.

  


"These are loose enough to fit into with our clothes _on,_ Quistis …" Selphie said, lifting up one of the uniforms to illustrate how baggy they were. Quistis lifted her head and breathed a sigh of relief.

  


"Well…at least for you and me they are…" Selphie continued. "Irvine on the other hand…"

  


Selphie and Quistis glanced back at Irvine, smiling mischievously. The sharpshooter looked around nervously.

  


"…uh… Hey, hey, hey…Ladies…?"

  


************************************************************************

Selphie pulled up into the base. She looked around somewhat nervously at the huge concrete barricade before them.

  


As they approached the gate, a security guard came out of his booth and up to the car. Selphie held her breath.

  


He took a glance at the three galbadian troops and shrugged.

  


"Alright, go ahead."

  


_"Really?"_ Selphie thought. _"Phew…"_

  


The security guard lowered the vehicle barrier, and opened the large gate on the base perimeter. Selphie drove in cautiously.

  


_"OK…"_ Selphie thought. _"Here we go…"_

************************************************************************

End Chap 21

Boring, I know. The next chapter should be very exciting though. This chapter is shorter I think, than the past few… Which is a good thing, other wise I would've had this HUGE chappy that no one would've read…

  


ne way. Next up is chapter 22, infiltration.

************************************************************************


	23. Chapter 22: Infiltration

**Chapter 22**

**Infiltration**

  


  


_"Ewww this uniform is so itchy and smelly." _Selphie thought as she parked and dismounted the yellow army car.

  


She looked around. Beyond the parking lot, surrounded by a chain-link fence, there were missile silos in the ground. Past that was an airfield, complete with airplane hangers and equipment. In front of them, however, was a large central structure, partially sunken into the ground… that was their target.

  


"When is launch time? Quistis asked as she and Irvine stepped out of the car.

  


"It doesn't matter!" Selphie replied. "We have to stop the missiles! That's all there is to it, right!? If there's a door, we go in! If there's anything we can break, we break! And in the end, we blow this place to smithereens!"

  


Irvine smiled beneath the Galbadian helmet.

  


"Hey, Selphie. I like your attitude. Let's do it up!"

  


Selphie gave a smile back.

  


_"…Irvine's not such a bad guy, I guess…"_ she thought. But she turned her mind to more important matters now.

  


"Let's get a move on!" she cried.

  


She led the team into the large central structure before them. The door swooshed open, revealing a small bunker, which possessed two other entrances. The inside doors were marked with Galbadian emblems and security numbers.

  


Selphie approached the first door, marked with a three.

  


She looked around for a handle, but there was none. She waved her hands, hoping that the door would slide open.

  


Nothing.

  


"It's LOCKED!" she exclaimed.

  


Selphie glanced about the room for something. A clue or key or…

  


She looked on a panel right next to the door. It had a slot and a small plate which read…

  


"Insert ID Card!?" Selphie called aloud. "But… we don't have one!!!"

  


Quistis was getting nervous at Selphie's outbursts. What if someone heard them?

  


"Selphie, calm down" she said.

  


Irvine walked over to Selphie slowly.

  


"So like…" he started. "I found this in the car. Give it a try."

  


He placed a small plastic card in the palm of Selphie's uniform. She smiled up at Irvine and took the card gladly. Selphie inserted the card quickly, hoping that it would work.

  


"Verifying…" the computerized voice started. "Access granted…"

  


"Yes!!!" Irvine exclaimed.

  


"Whoo-hoo!" Selphie agreed.

  


They walked over to the door and it slide open immediately.

  


_"Now to take care of this place…"_ Selphie thought.

  


They walked in onto a metal platform, hearing the hum of computers and the grinding of large machines all around. Below them, and beyond the railing, were large rising platforms bringing up equipment and tools.

  


Selphie took a few nervous steps as she looked around. Suddenly, she noticed a soldier standing guard at a door way below the small stairwell in front of them.

  


_"Yikes! There's someone there! What to do… What to do…" _Selphie thought.

  


_"There's no way to sneak by… And if we act too casual then he might be suspicious…"_

  


Selphie turned to Quistis and Irvine, who were waiting nervously behind her.

  


"(It might look suspicious if we run. Let's just walk by here!)" she told them.

  


Quistis and Irvine nodded in agreement, hoping they wouldn't get caught.

  


They came down the stairwell in single file, walking as carefully as they could. The solider didn't seem to pay them any heed, until they passed right before him.

  


"Hey! You! Stop right there!" he yelled gruffly.

  


_"Yikes!"_ Selphie thought. She held her breath to keep from screeching _"Do we look THAT suspicious!?"_

  


"Hah!" the guard laughed. "Walking in a single file…" he said. "Your parents must have raised you well. That's very good manners!" 

  


Selphie released her breath slowly, giving a soft sigh of relief.

  


"Always be thankful to your parents for bringing you up!" the guard continued.

  


"Yes, sir…" Selphie said, her voice nearly cracking.

  


_"Wow, that was weird…"_ she thought. _"What a strange man…"_

  


"Oh, by the way, We're under tight security right now. Don't be walking about too much…" the guard said.

  


Selphie nodded and continued on, leading Quistis and Irvine further into the base.

  


Selphie Quistis and Irvine made their way up another small stair well and into a larger area of the base. They walked along the platform and noticed large machinery and containers surrounding the walkway.

  


_"This place is really big…"_ Quistis thought as they made their way down another flight of stairs. _"Though they don't seem to have too many soldiers working here…"_

  


This time the stairs led down further into the base. A small hallway with two soldiers and some control panels fell into their line of sight.

  


Selphie approached the door that the first soldier was guarding. She peeked behind him curiously. 

  


"The missile launchers are through this door" the guard informed them. 

  


Selphie jumped a bit at his unexpected statement. She nodded nervously and continued walking by.

  


The guard frowned slightly under his helmet. He could tell that the three soldiers didn't seem to know where they were going.

  


_"Must be a rookie… poor kids are so small, too… ah well, they'll have to learn the ropes on their own. Especially during such a critical time…"_ he thought.

  


Selphie tried to look around without appearing suspicious. She noticed another stairwell with a soldier placed there. Selphie tried to walk by him, but the officer stepped in front of them.

  


"This place is off-limits" he said in a harsh tone. 

  


Selphie nodded, smiling sheepishly behind the helmet. She backed away quickly.

  


_"Man… where can we go?"_ Selphie thought. _"Everything is blocked…"_

  


She pondered over this a moment. Suddenly, Selphie noticed the computer control panel right in front of her.

  


_"Hello… what's this…?" _she wondered.

  


Selphie pressed the power button and attempted to activate the console. It began to flash and show the Galbadian emblem on the LCD screen.

  


_"Hey… alright…"_ Selphie thought happily. But her delight was soon replaced with disappointment, as the screen flashed a warning sign.

  


"Authorization required"

  


The guard near the missile room door noticed Selphie pressing buttons on the computer panel. He immediately raised his voice.

  


"Hey! Don't touch that!"

  


Selphie backed away once more, gesturing apology to the guard. He simply rolled his eyes and resumed his post.

  


_"…Rookies…"_

  


Selphie thought a moment.

  


_"Well… let's see where else we can go."_

  


She noticed a slightly hidden area behind the tall stairwell. She led Irvine and Quistis around to find a large corridor, leading into a platform where two soldiers were leaning against the railing.

They just appeared to be standing there, taking a break. Below them were rising platforms bringing up what looked like missiles. Selphie peered down into the depths of the base.

  


_"Wow… it's so deep…"_ she thought. _"This must go way down into the ground… like the prison…"_

  


Selphie failed to realize that as she walked over to the railing, she had also caused the two soldiers to notice her, and her companions. The soldier spoke abruptly, assuming that she was there to ask him something.

  


"Huh? I'm busy now. Whaddya want?"

  


Selphie looked up at him, surprised. She hadn't expected him to start questioning her…

  


_"It just looks like they're goofing off…"_ Selphie thought. _"Why is he talking to me…? What should I say…?"_

  


The second soldier spoke up, and turned around. His tool belt clanged around lazily as he did so.

  


"Oh yeah… Aren't we suppos'ta inspect the circuit room soon?" he said, addressing the first maintenance soldier.

  


Selphie, Irvine and Quistis stepped back as the soldiers began their conversation, though they listened in…

  


"Oh, it's that time already? We're doing the real thing today, so there's no way we have time for it" 

  


The first guard who had spoken so crudely to Selphie turned to her now, his voice a very different tone.

  


"Sorry to trouble you, but could you deliver a message for us? Tell the guys by the missile launcher to go on ahead, and that we'll catch up with 'em later."

  


Selphie thought a moment, looking back at Irvine and Quistis. They nodded encouraging her. Selphie looked back to the soldier and nodded quickly. 

  


"Thanks a lot. We really appreciate it." the second man said. he turned back to peer over the railing.

  


_"…Yeah, I'll bet you do… lazy goof-offs…" _Quistis thought harshly. 

  


Quistis had developed a very low opinion of Galbadian soldiers within the past few days… She couldn't imagine how Galbadia could be the rising world power, and yet possess so many soldiers who either didn't take their jobs seriously, or didn't have the skills to perform the job well enough. It didn't seem right.

  


"Thanks" the first soldier repeated. He, too, turned to look over the edge.

  


_"This could help us find out how to blow this joint up…"_ Selphie thought. _"Just need to act cool and deliver the message…"_

  


Selphie marched past the stairwell again, and led Quistis and Irvine over to the missile room. They walked in to find huge rows of missile launchers, just sitting there, waiting…

  


Selphie approached one soldier who was inspecting a missile launcher. He appeared to be very busy but Selphie spoke with him anyway, albeit, a little nervously.

  


"S'cuse me, sir… I have a message for you…"

  


The soldier turned around frowning.

  


"Well, what is it?"

  


Selphie put her hand to her chin, thinking.

  


_"Ah… what was it again…?…They'll go one ahead? …no… To go on ahead! Yeah that's it…"_

  


"It's about inspecting the circuit room. The maintenance team said they were too busy, so that you should go on ahead."

  


The soldier lightened up a little at this, and replied.

  


"Oh, ok. But I'm still not done here, you know… Hmmm… Could you tell them I can't go just yet? Thanks, I appreciate it." he said, without waiting for Selphie to reply.

  


Selphie nodded politely, and exited the missile room.

************************************************************************

  


"They said they were too busy to go, too."

  


Selphie spoke more self assured now, though she was careful to sound as much like a soldier as she could. 

  


The Maintenance soldier shook his head and turned to his companion.

  


"Geez… What do we do?"

  


"Guess we have no choice but to go…" the second man replied.

  


" … … … …"

  


Both stood silent, thinking there for a moment. Finally, the first man spoke up.

  


"Aahhh, alright… Can we ask you to go?"

  


The second soldier put up his hand in disagreement.

  


"What!? Hey, that's not cool! What if the base commander finds out!?"

  


"Ahh, it'll be fine. All we do is go and make sure everything's up and running, anyway."

  


The soldier stepped back, thinking carefully. He didn't want to have to get to work just yet, but he didn't want to get in trouble either.

  


"… … … … Well, I hope you're right…" he finally said.

  


The first soldier smiled and slapped his friend on the back.

  


"So, that's that" he said. then he turned to Selphie. "We're counting on you."

  


Selphie looked up smiling, and saluted the soldier.

  


"Yes, sir!"

  


Selphie turned around and started heading away from the railing.

  


_"…Whoo-hoo! Blow the place to smithereens!" _she thought as she directed Quistis and Irvine 

away from the two soldiers. They began formulating a plan.

  


"Alright…" she started. "Now we have an excuse to snoop around a bit, so let's see what we can mess with… "

  


"The circuit room…" Quistis said. "Wasn't that the room that one …strange man was guarding?"

  


Irvine chimed in. 

  


"Yeah, it must be… There's only a few control rooms here for as big as this place is…" he said. "It's only a big building cause of the size of the weapons…"

  


Selphie began leading them back to the room where they'd first entered the base building. A short walk later, they stood outside the circuit room door.

  


"Ready?" Selphie asked. She didn't wait for a response before approaching the guard.

  


"The maintenance team asked us to take their place with the inspection." she said, trying to speak in a manly voice.

  


"Oh, really?" the guard said. "Then I guess my shift is over…"

  


The guard smiled happily.

  


"I'm gonna call in my relief. Go ahead with the inspection."

  


And with that, he ran off.

  


_"Too easy!"_ Selphie thought as they walked into the room.

  


The powerful hum of a generator sounded as they entered. On one side of the wall was a yellow-glowing power source, but on the side opposite the door was what Selphie was looking for… The control panel.

  


_"This must be the control panel, but I'm not sure what to do…"_ Selphie thought.

  


_"I'll just press a few buttons here and there…"_

  


"Here goes nothing!" Selphie exclaimed.

  


Selphie pressed a couple of buttons delicately, but nothing seemed to work. 

  


_"That's strange… nothing happened. Maybe I should try again."_

  


Selphie scratched her head, becoming frustrated. She sighed heavily.

  


_"Here I am, in the middle of Galbadian territory, just witnessed missiles being launched at MY Trabia, I have to wear this stinky uniform… … And now I can't get even get a response from this stupid machine?! …Grrrr…"_

  


"Destroy everything!!!" Selphie cried, banging as hard as she could on the controls.

  


Quistis and Irvine jumped at her sudden outburst. She was making both of them a bit uncomfortable.

  


Selphie slammed the panel with her fist again and again, each time thinking about her friends at Trabia Garden.

  


Suddenly, the power generator on the wall started to go dim. It glowed for a moment more, and then went totally black, taking all light with it. Selphie stopped hitting the panel, confused.

  


"Huh? Heeey… The lights went out…"

  


Suddenly, the room glowed red with emergency lighting, and a voice came in over the base's PA system.

  


"Electrical System malfunction. Maintenance Team: Investigate Immediately."

  


Quistis walked over to Selphie nervously.

  


"It would look really bad if they found us here… We should leave this room now."

  


Selphie nodded her head in agreement.

  


"Alright! NEXT!" she exclaimed.

  


Selphie ran out of the room, followed by Irvine and Quistis. Once they exited however, two soldiers came running down. it was the two soldiers who had asked Selphie to come here in the first place…

  


"Hey, you! What's going on here!?"

  


_"…Ahh, man… Really bad timing… Well, we could take em… let's fight…"_ Selphie considered… but she thought better of it.

  


_"…Well… no. …We…We want to get out of here… and this place is crawling with soldiers… I'll try and talk my way out… but what kinda excise should I use?"_

  


"Uh…" Selphie began. "We were just about to go call on you!"

  


The maintenance guard sighed with frustration.

  


"Alright then." he said. " Let us take care of it!"

  


The two guards ran into the circuit room, not giving the three spies a second thought. Selphie cocked her head into the room and gave Irvine and Quistis a knowing glance. They smiled, realizing what Selphie's intention was.

  


They ran in after the guards, and began attacking them.

  


"H-Hey! W-What are you doing!?" one yelled.

  


The other backed away slowly.

  


"AHHH!!! W-Who are you…!?"

  


Selphie whacked him on the head with her nunchaku.

  


"Ughhh… Damn it…" the guard moaned, falling over.

  


"………."

  


Suddenly, Selphie ran out of the room, smiling wildly. 

  


"Whoo-hoo! Let's keep movin'!" Selphie cried.

  


Selphie's demeanor was beginning to frighten Quistis. She'd never seen Selphie get this hyper… or this violent.

  


Irvine, however, found it exciting…

  


_"…Geez…"_ Irvine thought, smiling. _"Selphie can be a little outta control at times…"_

  


Selphie looked around, aflame with excitement. She decided to head back to the missile room.

  


_"Need to find a way to disable the launch still…"_ she thought.

************************************************************************

  


Down by the missile room door, a soldier came out and saluted the other two outside.

  


"Hey, could you lend us a hand? The power's down and we need some help" the soldier said.

  


The guard near the stairs walked over, a bit unsure about leaving his post.

  


"Uh, I guess so…" he replied as he walked into the room. He shrugged his shoulders and motioned to the other guard.

  


"Come on." he encouraged.

  


Just as the guards went in the room, Selphie, Quistis and Irvine came down the metal stairway.

  


"That's weird… Selphie, there's no guards…" Irvine observed.

  


Selphie remained silent, looking about suspiciously. After a minute, she simply shrugged and started walking about freely.

  


_"Maybe we can get access to that computer now that the emergency power's on…"_ she thought. 

  


However, right as they walked by the door to the missile room, a soldier came out.

  


"Hey! You! Haven't seen you around before…"

  


_"Oh no…This is it…"_ Selphie thought, closing her eyes in apprehension. 

  


But the soldier just stood there, eyeing them suspiciously.

  


_"What to do…? What to do…?"_ Selphie thought. _"Play it cool? Run away? …Fight?"_

  


Selphie calmed herself down, and tried to look relaxed. She gave a quizzical frown to the guard.

  


"Well, we need some help in here." The troop said, forgetting his previous suspicious attitude. "I guess it doesn't really matter who… Do you think you could lend a hand?"

  


Selphie went wide eyed at this. Luckily, the upper portion of her face was hidden by the Galbadian helmet.

  


_"What to do…? What to do…?" _Selphie thought. She sighed.

  


_" …Guess we'd better just help out…" _she thought.

  


Selphie, Irvine and Quistis nodded.

  


"This way. Follow me" the guard instructed. He sighed heavily as he went into the room, and began mumbling to himself.

  


"Unbelievable… Power failure at a crucial time like this? What the heck are the maintenance guys doing…?"

  


Selphie chuckled a little at his grumbling, knowing exactly what was going on… but she composed herself and continued.

  


Once inside the room, Selphie Irvine and Quistis saw three soldiers. Two were pushing on a missile launcher, trying to get it in place. However, their efforts were unsuccessful.

  


Selphie walked over to the supervising soldier, and pointed at the launcher questioningly.

  


"Yeah, that's the one" the guard said, exasperated. "All right, 1 in between the 2 guys, and 2 on either side" he instructed.

  


Selphie Quistis and Irvine complied reluctantly, and positioned themselves behind the missile. All five began pushing hard… it was really heavy.

  


It took about five minutes to move the twelve foot object into the socket… Which had only been a matter of feet away. Once it was in place however, it sunk down into place, and attached itself to the cavity.

  


Selphie put her hands on her knees and breathed heavily. 

  


_"That… was… really… hard…"_ she thought.

  


The supervising soldier came over to her and slapped her back, almost knocking the wind out of her.

  


"Good work. All we need to do now is confirm the coordinates on the control panel. The program should be ready to go." he said. he looked up at Quistis and Irvine as well now.

  


"You guys get on it" he said.

  


_"Heeey! The control panel!? Now we're talkin'!" _Selphie thought, still catching her breath.

  


The three excited the room and approached the computer panel. Now they could do some damage.

  


"Ok, what should we do?" Quistis asked once they turned the computer on.

  


"So like… let's just bust it up." Irvine offered

  


_"Yeah, bust it up real good!"_ Selphie thought fanatically.

  


But she composed herself, trying to think reasonably.

  


_"But…"_

  


"It'll be a mega-bummer if WE launch the missiles by mistake." Selphie said. "So, should we hold back a little and just mess around with it a bit?"

  


"…That sounds good." Quistis said, relived that Selphie was coming to her senses.

  


The computer was ready to take orders. Apparently, the access had been un-blocked, and the computer was ready for input.

  


After showing the log in screen, the computer shined a menu. The background of the screen showed a world map, underscored by the galbadian emblem. Four bars protruding from the side of the computer screen, reading; Target, Equipment, Simulation, and Exit. 

  


Selphie scratched her head. She wasn't good with computers… 

  


_"I guess there's no better time than now to learn!"_ she thought.

  


"lessee… how about… Equipment! That should do something, right?"

  


Selphie selected the 'equipment' option, and the screen changed immediately. It showed a display of the galbadian army missile launcher. A unit similar to the one they had just helped load into the socket.

  


_"No, no, no…"_ Selphie thought. _"We need something else."_

  


She hit the select button to another part of the screen. It showed the actual missile now.

  


Quistis examined the weapon specs with interest for a moment.

  


"Looks to me like a coordinate input device. Not very advanced technology."

  


Suddenly, Quistis came up with an idea. She knew how they could ensure garden's safety.

  


"If you set the error ratio on maximum, I'm pretty sure the missiles will miss."

  


Selphie nodded her head, not sure she entirely understood.

  


"So… Should I access the 'target' menu?" she asked.

  


Quistis nodded.

  


Selphie exited the Equipment menu and went into the 'target' list. Several options came up.

'Set target', 'Set error ratio', 'data upload', and 'exit'.

  


_"Ooooouu…Set target…"_ Selphie thought. _"Set it on this base… yeah…."_

  


Selphie attempted to access the 'Set target' option. But her anticipation was unduly excited.

  


_"Authorization required?! …Shoot…"_

  


Then screen automatically went back to the Target options. Selphie decided to try the next one on the list. 

  


The error ratio was set to minimum. A large bar with columns marking at every ten percent showed how much the missiles could miss by.

  


_"This is it!"_ Selphie thought as she hit the controls. Selphie pushed the error ratio to maximum.

  


_"Yes!"_ she thought. Selphie highlighted the Exit button, satisfied, but Irvine stopped her.

  


"You have to upload the coordinates, or else it won't register." he said, grabbing her hand. 

  


Selphie looked at the computer oddly.

  


_"Data upload? …I guess that's it…"_

  


Selphie accessed the data upload screen, and hit the 'enter' button. A loading screen came up and performed the upload. After a few seconds, Selphie could now exit the menu.

  


_"Well, that's that…"_ she thought. _"But I still don't want those missiles to launch… we have to find where the main control center is…"_

  


Selphie gazed behind her as she logged out of the computer. A guard was standing by the same stairwell that they had tried to go up earlier.

  


_"We haven't been up there yet…"_ Selphie thought. _"I'll bet that's the main control room…"_

  


Selphie thought for a moment, and then motioned for Quistis and Irvine to follow her. She had a plan.

  


"This area is off-limits. You're not allowed up here." the guard said as Selphie approached him.

  


Selphie saluted then guard and made up an excuse

  


"But we've come to report on the missile coordinate data!"

  


The guard seemed slightly confused at this, but reluctantly complied

  


"Oh, very well. Go right ahead… " he said. He moved away, allowing them to pass.

  


The guard scratched his head, still slightly confused

  


"Did we have someone that puny in our base…?"

************************************************************************

  


Upstairs in the main control room, two soldiers and their commanding officer were preparing to launch. The two blue uniformed soldiers were working fervently on two control arrays.

  


"All systems go, sir!' one soldier reported.

  


"Everything's all set, sir!" the second said.

  


The red-uniformed officer folded his arms, satisfied.

  


"We had some minor setbacks, but proceed as scheduled. We're running behind, but prepare for the final launch phase" he said.

  


"Roger!" the two soldiers replied. One took up a microphone from the control panel and announced.

  


"Attention. This is the control room. We are now entering the final phase of the missile launch. Take your designated positions and prepare for the launch!"

  


Selphie Tilmett came up the stairs, and into the control room. Irvine and Quistis followed closely. As they came into the officer's sight, he looked at them in surprise. He put his hand to his chin suspiciously.

  


"Huh? What are you doing in here!?"

  


"We've come to report on the missile coordinates!" Selphie said, saluting the officer.

  


"Oh… …. …."

  


The officer paused or a moment. Something didn't seem quite right to him… and the he realized what it was.

  


"Don't move!" he commanded. "I thought you looked suspicious. You're the intruders! 

  


Selphie gulped, but tried to remain calm. Perhaps he was joking…

  


"No use hiding it now! That salute you just did was completely wrong!"

  


_"Yikes!"_ Selphie thought. _"Well, at least we made it this far. It's about time we rumbled!"_

  


Selphie closed her eyes, and began to focus. She utilized a thundara spell that she'd stocked to cause a blinding light to shine in the room. The soldiers covered their eyes.

  


"What are you doing!?" the commanding officer screamed in confusion.

  


"Ahhhhhh!"

  


"TA-DAH!" Selphie exclaimed. Once the light faded, she, Quistis and Irvine stood in their normal clothing, weapons out and ready.

  


"Hooooo, finally." Selphie teased, scratching her bare shoulder. "That military uniform is itchy, and it stinks!"

  


The three soldiers raised their weapons, ready to fight.

  


"Time for us to get serious!" one soldier boasted.

  


Selphie whipped her nunchaku around, whacking the soldiers with it harshly. Irvine fired his shotgun quickly, aiming for the commander.

  


One of the soldiers shrunk back slightly, fearful of how quick and strong these three teenagers appeared to be.

  


"Captain, they're too strong!"

  


The captain couldn't disagree. The three fought amazingly. The Galbadian soldiers were just barely able to defend against their assaults.

  


"Are they from Garden?" the captain asked. He shook his head and tried to concentrate.

  


"Go for the weak one!" he ordered.

  


The soldiers started attacking Selphie with their magic-swords. 

  


_"Weak one!?"_ Selphie thought indignantly. _"I'll show them who's weak…"_

  


Selphie immediately began to focus she attempted to cast a strong magic spell, but something went awry.

  


Energy rippled through and from Selphie's body. She continued to focus, though she didn't quite know what was going on. Suddenly, wings appeared behind the two blue-uniformed soldiers, and carried them away. 

  


" Ughhh!" one soldier cried.

  


"C-Captain…" called the other.

  


Selphie gawked at the sight, and watched as the two soldiers were lifted away and out of the base.

  


"What the hell was that!?" the officer called. Irvine ignored the unusual event for a moment and shot fiercely at the captain. The soldier fell to the ground.

  


Selphie fell to her knees and rubbed her head. What had just happened? How did she do that?

  


Quistis leaned down and put her arm around Selphie.

  


"Selphie…it's okay. Don't worry…"

  


Selphie looked up at Quistis in confusion and agitation.

  


"…But… I…"

  


"Shhh… " Quistis said, trying to comfort her startled friend. "Do you have any idea what just happened?"

  


Selphie shook her head, 'no'.

  


"Well, I do …It isn't unheard of." Quistis continued. "Magic use without any external aid… it's said to come from GF use. It happens naturally to some people, when using a Guardian Force. You seem to have your own special kind of skills that may present themselves at critical times, Selphie…"

  


"But… does that make me like… a sorceress….?" Selphie asked, lifting herself up. The thought frightened her.

  


Quistis shook her head. 

  


"No.. not at all… in fact, it's similar to my Blue-magic…That's all."

  


Selphie wiped the seat from her forehead. The concern lifted from her mind, thanks to Quistis, and she began focusing on the rest of their mission.

  


"OK then! Let's stop the missiles, blow the base to smithereens, and get outta here!" Selphie commanded.

  


"One of these control panels should be the launch control mechanism." Quistis said.

  


Irvine, as confused as he was about Selphie's 'magic', seemed to just brush it off and focus on what needed to be done.

  


"So like… let's just split up and start lookin'."

  


The three teenagers began looking on all the control panels around the room.

  


"Hmmmmm…" Selphie said, examining one area. She pressed a few buttons."……I don't think it's this one."

  


Selphie walked over to Irvine and glanced over his shoulder. Irvine noticed and Immediately tried to impress her.

  


"Yep! This is it!" he said proudly. Selphie smiled happily.

  


Irvine pressed a few more buttons, and realized that he was wrong.

  


"…Ahh, man… I don't think this is the one."

  


Quistis spoke up though

  


"This is it!"

  


She pressed in a few commands, as Irvine and Selphie walked over.

  


"We stopped the missiles. We're safe for now." Quistis finally said.

  


"Whoo-hoo!" Selphie cried. "All we need to find now is the self-destruct mechanism!"

  


Irvine glanced around the room. It all seemed to be launching information from what he could tell. Nothing to do with the base itself.

  


"Ahhhh, man… the self-destruct mechanism doesn't seem to be in here…" he said.

  


Selphie looked around thoughtfully for a instant. She then noticed a doorway in the base. She motioned for Irvine and Quistis to follow her, and they fond another control room. Selphie examined the panel and immediately found what she was looking for.

  


"Heeey! This is the self destruct mechanism for the base!" Selphie said. She jumped up and down with excitement.

  


"Hmmm… Let's see here.."

She pressed a few buttons, and a monitor before her lit up.

  


"Huh?" Selphie said, reading the screen. "We have to set a time?"

  


Selphie looked at the options. Anywhere from ten to forty minutes.

  


_"Ten!"_ she thought. _"…Might be cutting it a little close, but we're gonna be outta here in no time!"_

  


Selphie selected ten minutes.

  


"Hmmm… Let's see here…" Selphie said again. She pressed in a final command. At the press of a button, a loud alarm sounded, along with a recording that played throughout the base.

  


"Self destruct mechanism activated. 10 minutes until destruction. All staff evacuate the base immediately. I repeat…"

  


"Whoo-hoo! Let's hurry on outta here!" Selphie cried. She looked around and saw another door.

  


"Let's go this way… We're sure to get caught on the way out if we head back through the base that way …" she said.

************************************************************************

In the main control room, the captain lay on the floor, nearly dead.

  


"………." 

  


Suddenly, he found the strength to move. Little by little, he crawled his way over to a control panel. He wasn't going to give up that easily.

  


"Heheheh… It's not over yet…" he said over the whooping alarm.

  


The captain climbed his way onto the panel, pressed a button. He laughed slightly, and then fell over. He took one last breath, and finally lost his life.

************************************************************************

  


Upon exiting the control room, Selphie was over-joyed to discover that it led straight for the exit. They were in the same room that they had entered the building from.

  


"Hey! A shortcut!" Selphie said.

  


Quistis and Irvine smiled grimly. They had only minutes to get out of there, which made them quite tense. Suddenly, a loud banging sounded throughout the base. Almost like something locking into place. 

  


"Huh? Heey? What was that noise?" Selphie asked.

  


Selphie led Quistis and Irvine out of the building. Just as they exited, they heard something under the ground, machinery working it's way up.

  


They stopped in the middle of the base parking lot, and looked out onto the missile silos. Launchers shot out of the ground, and proceeded to issue forth the Galbadian cruise missiles into the sky. The loud sound of the rockets was deafening.

  


Selphie, Irvine and Quistis gazed in horror. Though they had set the missiles slightly off course, would it be enough? They were supposed to stop the missiles entirely… now there was a lot at stake…. Too much.

  


But they still had to escape. Selphie continued running, but stopped as she noticed an immense vehicle parked right before the base entrance. Some kind of battle-tank, with large pillars which looked likes smoke-stacks coming from the machine. It was huge

  


Selphie gasped at the sight. What was going on? How would they escape? 

  


A red-uniformed soldier stood beside the tank. He tapped his foot impatiently.

  


"There's no way I'm letting you all live!" he screamed. "It would be inexcusable to sorceress Edea! I don't want to suffer her wrath!"

  


Selphie whipped out her nunchaku, ready to fight. The soldier continued.

  


"Are you men ready!?"

  


From the inside of the machine, two voices sounded giving an emphatic, "Yes, sir!"

  


"Alright, let's go!" the commander said. He ran around to the back of the vehicle and climbed inside.

  


Quistis, Irvine and Selphie gawked upward at the huge vehicle as it inched closer. Steam came out violently from the vents in the machine's side. 

  


BGH251F2… that was the name of this monstrous Galbadian weapon. Though it's bulky appearance and heavy steel armor made it appear invincible, the six-pillared battle-tank shook violently, and moved quite slow. It took a lot of energy to run, and was not an especially powerful weapon… unless being used against humans….

  


"How are we supposed to fight this thing?!" Irvine exclaimed.

  


Quistis and Selphie stepped back, wondering that themselves.

  


"…I… I don't think we can…" Quistis said. "We're going to have to use GF's…"

  


Selphie chimed in nervously.

  


"Y-Yeah… you have Quezecotl… right Quistis?"

  


Quistis nodded and began to focus. She summoned forth Quezectol, and in a matter of seconds, the thunder-element Guardian appeared.

  


Shooting forth beams of electrical energy, Quezectol viscously attacked the machine. After doing sufficient damage, Queszctol faded into the air.

  


The tank shook heavily, and one of the pillars started to rumble… It exploded.

  


A voice inside the machine sounded out.

  


"AHHH!! Captain!"

  


"Don't worry, it's just one!" a gruff voice replied.

  


Suddenly, another of the six pillars exploded in a fiery burst. 

  


Quistis smirked.

  


_"…Not bad at all…"_ she thought.

  


"Prepare the beam cannon!" the captain yelled from within the vehicle.

  


Resounding energy hummed about a small cannon hole on the tank. Suddenly, a burst of harsh electrical force came out, aimed directly at Selphie.

  


"Ugh!" she cried, being forced onto her back. She fell hard.

  


"Selphie! Are you alright?!" Irvine cried as he cast a cura spell on her.

  


"Uh-huh…" Selphie said, lifting herself from the ground. It took her a moment to get her bearings.

  


Quistis gazed on at the tank, infuriated. She began to use a thundara spell on the vehicle.

  


Another pillar exploded violently at this.

  


"Let's just get outta here!' a voice from the inside said.

  


"Can't let them seize this MRV!" the captain cried. "Keep attacking anyway!"

  


Another large beam of energy formed around the cannon, but it came out weakly this time. It was aimed at Irvine, but he barely winced at the force of the energy.

  


All three fighters began casting Thundara magic on the BGH251F2. The machine slowly started to give.

  


"What!?" the captain yelled from inside the tank. His machine was falling apart, and they had to get out.

  


Several more pillars exploded as the soldiers dismounted the vehicle. They came out, one of them with his uniform on fire.

  


"Ow, ow ow! Hot!" he cried.

  


Selphie, Irvine and Quistis blocked their eyes from the explosion, but raised their weapons, ready to get rid of the soldiers.

  


Once they approached the fighters, the captain stomped his foot in frustration.

  


"That piece of crap!" he cried. One of the soldiers replied.

  


"What now, captain?"

  


The other spoke up.

  


"It need repairs, sir!"

  


"We'll kill 'em first!" the captain said, pointing at the three teenagers.

  


Quistis put up her hand at Selphie and Irvine, smirking.

  


"I'll take care of them…" she offered. 

  


Quistis once again summoned her GF. The soldiers gazed at her curiously, wondering what she was doing. Their question was answered as they saw a monstrous bird flying above their heads.

  


Before they could even move, Queszecotl zapped the three Galbadian soldiers down, permanently immobilizing them.

  


The battle was won, though now Selphie, Quistis and Irvine had to focus on another task… escape.

  


Selphie moved toward the broken tank which was blocking the exit. It was jammed into the door, and there was no way around it.

  


Selphie looked about fervently, frightened. Wasn't there anyway out!?

  


She looked around once more, but it was hopeless. The base would self-destruct in a matter of minutes, and they were stuck.

  


Quistis and Irvine fell down to their knees, and Selphie hung her head. They knew that this was it. For all their efforts to deter Galbadia from gaining more power, for wanting to protect their friends… this was their reward.

  


_"…Are we locked in?"_ Selphie thought, holding back tears. She sighed, knowing the answer.

  


_"Squall will take care of the rest, right?"_ Selphie rubbed the back of her neck, and wiped away a tear.

  


_"I wonder if he'll organize the Garden Festival?"_

  


Selphie laughed slightly at this.

  


_"Nah, can't count on Squall for that…"_

  


Selphie lowered herself to the ground, sighing.

  


_"It's all over…"_

  


The silence, though uncomfortable, gave the three a peaceful air. They knew what was coming, and had time to think about it… too much time.

  


"It came quite quietly." Quistis observed. "I thought the end would have been more dramatic…"

  


Irvine spoke up, lifting his head.

  


"Squall… He didn't trust me. That's probably why he put me on this team…"

  


Selphie cocked her eye at their comments. Not dramatic? …Squall didn't trust…?

  


_"…What are you all saying?"_ Selphie thought. _"Squall choose us because he believed in us. I'm sure of it!"_

  


Selphie thought happily of Squall. Surely underneath his cold shell, he genuinely had faith in them… they were friends… right?

  


_"'We can do it'. That's what he thought when he made this team. Isn't that right, Squall?"_ Selphie thought.

  


Suddenly the ground shook. Selphie looked up to see a huge fireball underneath the missile launchers. Then another explosion. The three stumbled on the concrete for a moment, as the explosions got louder, and closer to them.

  


_"Goodbye…"_ Selphie thought. 

************************************************************************

End Chap. 22

  


*sniff* *sniff*

Another one of those chapters folks… *sigh*… a moment of silence for Selphie Tilmett, Irvine Kinneas, and Quistis Trepe, please.

……………………….

  


Well, if it pleases you, I have the next chapter coming up. Should be quite a boon to those of you who are waiting for a Squall chapter… (He's been out of the picture quite a bit lately, huh?

  


Next up! Loyalty!

************************************************************************

  


  



	24. Chapter 23: Loyalty

**Chapter 23**

**Loyalty**

  


After arriving in Balamb, Squall, Rinoa, and Zell made their way to Garden quickly. Time was of the essence. 

  


Squall approached Garden's front gate with urgency, but he slowed down, realizing that Garden was undamaged and appeared peaceful. It was a little quieter than usual outside, but the three teenagers didn't seem to notice. All, especially Zell, breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

  


"Alright! The Garden's safe!" Zell cried, ecstatic.

  


_"It looks like they did it."_ Squall thought, impressed. But he wouldn't allow himself to assume too much. 

  


_"Still, the missiles could be on their way."_

  


Squall turned around and looked at Zell and Rinoa. 

  


"We have to report to the headmaster. Come on."

  


Squall ran up to the gate and entered Garden. He looked upon his surroundings with an elated sense of contentment and familiarity… How long had it been exactly?

  


But as Squall took only a few steps, he noticed that something was very different, and very wrong. He heard yelling and blasts of magic resonate throughout the open-air walkway.

  


Student's were running everywhere, and red-robed Garden staff were shouting out commands. Squall looked about in surprise.

  


"Find the head master!" one staff member yelled.

  


Squall didn't understand.

  


_"What's going on? Are they evacuating?"_ he wondered.

  


"Seize him! Kill him if you have to!" the same staff member cried. "Go!"

  


_"What!?"_ Squall thought. _"Kill him!?"_

  


Squall backed away from the staff member, still unsure about what was going on. Suddenly, though, he bumped into a Grat, one of the monsters that resided in the training center.

  


Squall quickly turned around and drew his weapon. Rinoa and Zell followed suit.

  


_"What are the monsters doing out?!"_ Squall thought. _"What is going on!!?"_

  


Squall lunged at the beast with his gunblade, and it fell instantly. Grat's, while dangerous if given the chance, could be beaten easily. Squall made sure to attack before it had the chance to use it's poisonous tentacle-like appendages to put him to sleep.

  


_"Monsters out… Student's running everywhere… We need to figure this out before someone gets hurt… and everyone needs to be warned about the missiles."_

  


Squall ran closer and closer to the insides of Garden. Zell and Rinoa followed him, speechless. Even Rinoa, who had only been to a Garden twice in her life, could tell that something was amiss here. That things weren't the way they should be.

  


Squall stopped once again right by the turn-wheel entrance. 

  


_"What the hell is going on?"_ he thought impatiently.

  


Suddenly, a garden staff member noticed them, and came rushing over. His yellow hat bobbed up and down as he spoke.

  


"You three, which side are you on?"

  


Squall looked back at the staff member with confusion, and a bit of contempt. What was this moron blabbering about.

  


_"Huh?"_ thought Squall.

  


"Answer the question! Are you with the Garden Master, or are you with Cid!?"

  


"I don't understand what you're talking about." Squall replied.

  


The red-robed man glared from underneath his circular hat. He was getting very impatient.

  


"Do you swear your allegiance to Garden Master NORG?"

  


Squall thought for a moment. From what he could gather, there was some kind of contention between Cid and this… 'NORG'… but who was NORG? What did they mean by Garden Master…?

  


_"I don't get it…"_ thought Squall. He looked up directly into the staff member's face.

  


"Can you tell me what's going on?" Squall reiterated, in an impatient tone.

  


"I'm the one asking the questions! You're just supposed to follow orders!" the man replied vehemently.

  


Squall rolled his eyes. He'd had enough of this. Staff members were bad enough without this situation... whatever it was.

  


"Hey! What kind of attitude is that!?" the staff member screamed. "You're with Cid, aren't you!?"

  


With that, the staff member blew a whistle, and two monsters came rushing out from behind a bush.

  


Squall drew his weapon quickly, as did Rinoa and Zell.

  


_"What is this… a joke?"_ Zell thought. He rushed towards a rather small catcherpillar, and punched it in, what served as, its' head several times. It fell down dead.

  


Rinoa shot at another Grat who had appeared with the catcherpillar. It attempted to retaliate by grabbing at her with its' tentacles, but Squall rushed at the monster with his gunblade.

  


"NORG is the true master of this Garden…" the staff member said, frightened. With that, he ran off.

  


Squall sheathed his sword, for the moment, and ran over to the turn-wheel entrance. A student was seated there, shaking his head nervously. He looked up to see Squall, Zell, and Rinoa standing above him. Squall recognized him from Quistis' class.

  


"Hey, Squall." he said. "The Garden is in chaos. The monsters from the training center are everywhere. The members of the Garden Master's faction set them free. Watch your back, man."

  


Squall nodded, ready to enter what looked to be a very long battle situation.

  


"Hey, if you're going in there, take this with you…" the student offered. He handed Squall a mega-potion. A super-condensed healing solution.

  


Squall took it gladly, and marched into Garden.

  


Upon finally entering the main hallway, Squall saw two familiar figures standing near the directory.

  


_"Fuijin… Raijin…"_ he thought.

  


Squall approached them with Zell and Rinoa following closely behind. They glanced about nervously, making sure that no surprise attacks would catch them off-guard.

  


"Hey, you're back!" Raijin cried.

  


"What's going on here?" Squall asked, matter-of-factly. 

  


Raijin spoke in a confused and excited voice. 

  


"I dunno. At first, they were sayin' somethin' 'bout roundin' up the SeeDs, ya know!? Now everyone's either sidin' with the Garden Master or the headmaster and fightin' everywhere, ya know!?"

  


The silver haired Fuijin stood there silent for a moment, but soon chimed in.

  


"DISTURBING" she said.

  


Raijin shook his head.

  


"Disappointin' for the disciplinary committee. All our work for nothin', ya know!?"

  


Squall still didn't quite understand.

  


"Why are SeeDs being targeted? And where's the headmaster? Is he safe?" Squall asked.

  


"We got no clue." Raijin replied.

  


Squall sighed in frustration.

  


"We need to see him right away. It's important."

  


Fuijin and Raijin cocked their heads questioningly. What did he mean?

  


"Galbadian missiles may be heading this way." Squall informed them.

  


"WHAT!?" Raijin cried anxiously. "We gotta get outta here!"

  


Fuijin turned around in a huff, and kicked her brother in the shin.

  


"OOOUUCH! Geez, alright!" Raijin moaned. He turned to Squall. "We'll warn everyone about the missiles! Man, this is no time to be fightin', ya know!?"

  


Squall nodded in appreciation.

  


"We'll go look for the headmaster" he said.

  


"CAUTION!" Fuijin warned.

  


"Yeah, the fightin' is intense everywhere!" Raijin agreed. "And watch out for those Garden Master goons, ya know!"

  


Raijin and Fuijin were about to head off, but Zell stopped them. He wondered… whose side were they on?

  


"Yo, guys… you with…?"

  


Rinoa interrupted him, finishing the question.

  


"The headmaster?" 

  


Raijin shook his head.

  


"Hey, jus' like Fuijin said, ya know!? We're with Seifer. Always have, always will."

  


They both nodded. And with that, they ran off to warn the battling students.

  


Squall put his hand to his hip and shook his head.

  


_"Seifer… he's sided with the sorceress. You guys alright with that?"_ he thought.

  


Squall sighed, and motioned for Zell and Rinoa to follow him.

  


_"We're going to have to search every single area of Garden…"_ he thought with disdain. _"Well… maybe not… we can stop by the infirmary first… maybe doctor Kadowaki knows something…_

  


Squall made his way through Garden's main hallway carefully, trying to avoid any monsters or staff members, and into the infirmary wing. Unfortunately, they had an unpleasant surprise waiting for them in the hallway.

  


"Looks like Cid has some decent pawns" a Garden faculty member said. Two cadets stood by him, ready to fight against two very well trained SeeD veterans.

  


Apparently, some students had joined with this NORG character.

  


"This is getting nowhere," the staff said. "Call the monsters."

  


Squall glared at the staff member. His back was turned, and he had no idea that three other SeeDs were behind him… Perfect for a surprise attack.

  


_"Well… two SeeDs…"_ Squall thought, remembering Rinoa. _"But she can hold her own well enough…"_ Squall rolled his eyes at this though. _"…As long as **I'm** with her…" _he thought sarcastically.

  


Squall shook the thoughts from his head and began to take action.

  


"Let's get in there!" Squall cried as he saw a monster come at the uniformed SeeDs.

  


"More SeeDs here!?" the staff member cried in annoyance. He backed away slowly, allowing the monster to have a straight shot at the SeeDs.

  


Squall, Zell and Rinoa found themselves pitted against a huge flying insect. A rare, but powerful monster called Granaldo. Squall recalled the night he fought one with Quistis in the training center…

  


The huge flying beast flew over Rinoa's head, attempting to grab at her with its' claws. She screamed and shot at it with her Blaster Edge.

  


The monster screeched in pain, and backed away. Squall then rushed towards it with his gunblade, slicing off one of its' six appendages.

  


Screaming now, the insect's wings stopped buzzing, and it fell to the ground. Zell ran over and drop-kicked it to make sure that it was dead… It was.

  


After they had taken care of the Granaldo, Dr. Kadowaki came rushing out of the infirmary. She'd heard commotion out in the hall earlier, but it was so intense now, she was sure that someone was injured.

  


"Oh my…" she exclaimed. Dr. Kadowaki noticed one of the cadets leaning against the walk-way wall, clutching his stomach. He'd somehow gotten injured in all the excitement.

  


"Can you stand up?" she asked, offering a hand. The student was bleeding through his side.

  


The young man looked up at her suspiciously. He'd just tried to fight alongside one of the Garden Staff…

  


"Why are you helping me? I'm with the Garden Master…" he replied, coldly.

  


The doctor rolled her eyes.

  


"Stop being ridiculous. I don't care whose side you're on." 

  


She examined his injury and frowned.

  


"We need to take care of those wounds now, you hear?"

  


The student nodded, reluctantly, but he couldn't get up or walk under his own power. Dr. Kadowaki could tell. She looked around and saw Squall standing above her, and frowned at him.

  


"Squall, don't just stand there. Give me a hand."

  


Squall was about to object, but he knew Dr. Kadowaki too well to think that he could come up with any excuse.

************************************************************************

  


"What is all this faction mumbo jumbo?" Dr. Kadowaki asked. "It's ridiculous. 

  


They had placed the student on a medical bed and Dr. Kadowaki dressed his wounds. She sat at her desk with a worried frown on her usually cheerful face.

  


"We don't know either…" Squall informed her. "We just got here, and we need to speak with the headmaster."

  


"Oh..." Dr. Kadowaki replied. "You're looking for Cid? As you can see, he's not here." 

  


Squall sighed in frustration

  


"Well, do you have any idea?" he asked impatiently.

  


"Hmm…" the doctor thought a moment. "Xu might know" she said. "I have no idea where she is though. Why are you looking for him anyway?"

  


Squall threw back his hand in urgency.

  


"I need to inform him that there may be missiles heading this way" he exclaimed. "You should get out of here, too."

  


Dr. Kadowaki gawked at him in disbelief.

  


"Are you serious!?" she cried." Squall nodded solemnly.

  


"Then I'm definitely gonna have to stay. If anybody gets hurt, who's gonna look after them?"

  


Squall shrugged his shoulders. If she wanted to stay, fine. But they still needed to inform Cid. He nodded a 'goodbye' to the doctor and walked off. Rinoa and Zell followed him.

Out in the infirmary hallway, one of the SeeD who was defending the infirmary approached Squall.

  


"Hey, Squall" the young man said.

  


Squall looked at him oddly for a moment. He didn't recognize him at all.

  


"Who are you?" Squall asked.

  


The young SeeD looked hurt at Squall's comment. 'Who was he'? Wasn't it obvious…?

  


"What!?" he exclaimed. "Oh, man, it's me, Nida! We passed the SeeD exam together. I can't believe you forgot!"

  


Squall turned his head away, embarrassed at this.

  


"Oh yeah…" he said in a low, humiliated voice.

  


Nida noticed his embarrassment, and tried to brush it off.

  


"Gee… Well, it's just like you to forget…" he excused, making fun of Squall's reputation. "Go on. I got this place covered."

  


Squall nodded and walked away quickly.

  


"Man, Squall…" Zell said after they were further down the hall. "You didn't remember Nida?"

  


Squall didn't reply.

************************************************************************

Out in the main hallway, there were numerous students running back and forth between wings. Squall couldn't tell whose side everyone was on anymore, though no one seemed interested in fighting right in the middle of the hallway.

  


_"Good…"_ thought Squall. _"Gives us a better chance to figure out what's going on… and find the headmaster."_

  


Realizing that they would have to search all throughout Garden now, Squall decided to check the wings systematically.

  


_"Since we just went to the infirmary, we'll check out the Quad… and then go on from there until we find the headmaster."_ Squall thought.

  


Upon entering the Quad's second section, Squall noticed another staff member, rushing up towards them. He heard the staff member mumbling something to himself.

  


"Dammit. We need reinforcements" he said. 

  


Squall tried to look for a place to hide for a moment, but it was too late. The Garden staff bumped right into him.

  


"Another one of Cid's followers!? DIE!" he screamed. The staff member blew on a whistle and once again monsters appeared, obeying the call of their masters.

  


The staff member ran off as two monsters came rushing at Squall, Rinoa, and Zell.

  


Interestingly, the two monsters were completely opposite types… a Bomb and a Glacial Eye. The Bomb, a huge swirling mass of fiery flesh, used heat attacks, and the Glacial Eye absorbed any attack fueled by frigid magic… both were entirely out of their element in the fair-weather conditions of Garden.

  


Nevertheless, both attacked furiously. Squall quickly arranged the magic he had juctioned to take on the Bomb, which he saw as a more immediate threat. 

  


A simple juctioning trick allowed Squall to associate Ice magic with any kind of attack, whether he was hitting something, or using his weapon. Any extreme and quickly given pressure could also unleash Ice-typed magic on to the receiver. It required a GF who possessed the ability, but other than that, was a simple process.

  


Squall sliced onto the Bomb with ease, doing incredible damage.

  


The group however, made a mistake in assuming the hovering Glacial Eye was no threat. With its' almost jelly-fish like appearance, the Glacial Eye appeared nearly harmless. It shined a bright blue color, as its' 'tail' quivered below it, helping it maneuver in the air. 

  


But the Glacial Eye was anything but safe. With the ability to stop an opponent dead in their tracks, Glacial Eyes were notoriously tricky monsters. This one made no hesitation to send out energy waves in Zell's direction…

  


Zell attempted to dodge the attack, but he noticed it too late. The attack literally froze Zell in place. It was almost as if he'd been turned to stone…

  


Squall Glanced over at Zell, worried for a moment.

  


_"…Just a simple status effect…"_ Squall thought, remembering the magic classifications he'd learned. _"I can heal him with Esuna later…"_

  


Squall looked at Rinoa and nodded his head towards the Glacial Eye.

  


_"Go on… kill it"_ he thought.

  


Rinoa agreed and Started firing at the floating monster. After just a few rounds from her Blaster Edge, the monster crumpled up and fell to the ground.

  


Rinoa smiled, proud of herself, but she looked over and Squall was still struggling with the Bomb. She frowned.

  


_"That's weird…"_ she thought. _"…Wasn't that thing smaller when we started…?"_

  


Rinoa was right. The Bomb had been increasing in mass every time Squall attacked it. Even at the slightest movement towards it, the bomb grew…

  


Rinoa thought for a moment. Squall seemed to be handling it okay. The bomb tried to crash into him every now and again, but Squall deflected it with his sword. But something bothered her…

  


_"What was that thing I learned about Bombs…" _she thought. Then it came to her.

  


_"Oh no…"_

  


Rinoa's eyes widened as she recalled the information… Bomb's committed 'suicide' if too heavily damaged… which meant…

  


"Squall! Get down!' Rinoa called out.

  


Squall glanced over to her questioningly for a moment.

  


_"What does she mean…?"_ he thought.

  


Suddenly, the Bomb increased in Size drastically, and began shaking. Rinoa ran over to Squall and grabbed hold of him, slamming them both down into the floor. They both skidded across the tiled ground, Rinoa on top of Squall, as the bomb exploded violently.

  


Squall looked up at Rinoa in surprise for a moment, and sight embarrassment as he realized what'd just happened.

  


Rinoa looked back at him, gazing at him with worried eyes. She too however became embarrassed, and Quickly picked herself up and off from him.

  


"… Thanks." Squall said plainly, after a long silence. Rinoa nodded, smiling weakly. Suddenly, both looked over to where the bomb had exploded.

  


"Oh my gosh!" Rinoa exclaimed. "Zell!"

  


Squall quickly cast Esuna on the excitable young man. Zell moved slowly at first, but then shook his head wildly as he came out of the 'trance'.

  


"Whoa…" Zell said, still a bit woozy. "What just happened…?"

  


Zell looked at Squall and Rinoa, who were both blushing slightly. Zell cocked his eye suspiciously for a moment, but simply shrugged his shoulders.

  


"Well, anyway… let's keep going…" Squall said.

  


The three made their way further down into Quad. Squall approached the Garden festival stage carefully, and cautiously.

  


_"Nothing looks damaged so far…" _he thought. Squall remembered how he'd told Selphie that he'd help out with the festival…

  


_"What was I thinking…?"_ Squall thought. _"...Oh well… She'd kill me if I let anything happen to the set-up…"_

  


Suddenly, Squall heard a noise above his head. He glanced up quickly.

  


"Who's there!?" he said suspiciously.

  


Three SeeDs jumped down from the top of the stage.

  


"Whose side are you on!?" one yelled. All were in their SeeD uniforms, two boys and a girl. The dark haired male in back was speaking.

  


Squall rolled his eyes. Whose side?

  


_"I guess the headmaster…"_ Squall thought. _"He's the only one we even know about!"_

  


"I'm with the headmaster." Squall said plainly.

  


The three SeeDs let down their guard

  


"Phew- Glad to hear it." the leader said. He took another look at Squall, remembering who he was.

  


"I sure don't want to fight you" he half-joked. "Who's this Garden Master anyway?" he asked rhetorically. 

  


Squall shrugged his shoulders.

  


"I still don't understand what's going on…" Squall said.

  


The other male student nodded his head sympathetically.

  


"The headmaster had most of the SeeDs evacuate" he explained. "He said something about 'the true battle for SeeD' is yet to come, and now's not the time."

  


The female SeeD nodded in agreement.

  


"You won't find the headmaster here, though."

  


Squall sighed. 

  


"Well, we could use some help locating him…" Squall replied.

  


The girl shook her head.

  


"We're gonna hold up here for a little longer."

  


Squall nodded and motioned for Zell and Rinoa to follow him. They all left the Quad, and entered the cafeteria.

  


Immediately, A Garden staff member caught sight of them.

  


"Another one of Cid's followers? DIE!" he exclaimed.

  


_"This sure is getting old…"_ Squall thought. 

  


A Bomb appeared down the hall, and rushed towards them.

  


"Stall them" the staff member said.

  


Squall still had the Ice magic equipped to attack with, so the three fighters finished off the bomb rather quickly. After the battle, they made their way into the cafeteria, still looking for the headmaster.

  


They saw another group of SeeDs guarding the area. Squall approached a young, female SeeD.

  


"Thanks for the backup." The tall blond girl said. Squall nodded, hardly paying attention. He glanced over her shoulder, looking for Cid…

  


"If you're looking for the headmaster, he isn't here" the girl informed him. "We've gathered here to make them believe that he's in here."

  


One of the other SeeDs spoke up; a young man.

  


"If they attacked us all at once, there's no way we could hold them off. Even if we are SeeDs.'

  


The blond girl nodded in agreement.

  


"The others are doing the same thing in other areas. Essentially, we're cutting them off. Brilliant, huh? It wasn't our idea though."

  


"Who came up with it?" Squall asked.

  


"Xu" the boy replied.

  


"She took charge immediately when this whole thing began." The blond girl said.

  


Squall nodded and began to walk away.

  


"Hey Squall, tell those traitors to bring it on." the girl cried.

  


Squall turned around in surprise. He simply gave the girl an odd glance and rolled his eyes.

  


_"Whatever"_

  


"Hey, Squall… hold on a minute…" Zell tapped Squall on the shoulder and walked away. He moved up to the cafeteria counter.

  


One of the female SeeDs was standing near the counter. Zell approached them with an inquisitive smile.

  


"Do you guys want some hot dogs?" she asked.

  


"YEAH!" Zell exclaimed. That was just what he'd wanted to hear. He swung his arms around in excitement. 

  


The girl smiled at Zell's outburst, and nodded to her companion, also standing right by the counter.

  


"Hey, give them some of those leftover hot-dogs." She said.

  


The other girl looked back at her friend with a confused stare.

  


"Oh,…" she realized. "…We already finished them."

  


"Oh really?" the girl replied. She looked at Zell and Shrugged her shoulders. "Oh well, sorry."

  


Zell hung his head.

  


_"This always happens …I LOVE those Hot-dogs, and they never have em'!!! Grrrr…"_

************************************************************************

Out in the main hallway, things seemed to have died down a bit… or at least that's what the appearance was.

  


_"…Everyone's tensed up by now…"_ Squall thought. _"…Now it's hide and seek…"_

  


He led Rinoa and Zell past the dorms. 

  


_"No reason to check in there…"_ Squall thought. _"that'd be the first place they'd look, so he probably isn't there…"_

  


The dorms weren't particularly big, but there were a lot of rooms. It was easy to get lost if you didn't know your way around… The Garden staff new this, so it was probably the first place they checked.

  


Squall went straight to the parking lot, the next section of Garden. He saw another staff member off in the distance.

  


The Garden staff caught sight of the three teenagers as well, and sent a monster right after them.

  


"This Garden belongs to NORG!" he cried, as a Grendal came running down the hall.

  


The Garden staff ran past Squall, Rinoa and Zell before they had a chance to catch him. The monster kept them occupied.

  


The Huge, muscle-bound beast crawled on all fours, though its' forelegs resembled arms. Grendals were nefariously ill-tempered, and quite strong.

  


Zell ran up and spared with the beast for a moment. He was able to disorient the monster, but killing it was going to be another matter entirely.

  


Squall slashed furiously with his gunblade, but couldn't seem to slice beyond the surface of the Grendal's hide… It had incredibly thick skin.

  


Rinoa stepped back while Squall and Zell Exchanged blows with the monster. She began trying to use magic…

  


_"Squall said this wouldn't be easy since I've never had any training… but I guess now's as good a time as any to practice…"_

  


Rinoa began scanning through the magic stock that Squall had allotted her on the way back to Garden. It was mostly healing spells, as those were the easiest to cast, but she found an attack magic that suited their needs.

  


_"Aero… well here goes nothing..."_ she thought.

  


As Rinoa focused, her head ached slightly, but the tension was soon relived, and the energy flowed freely. A gust of wind emitted from her and hit the Grendal with full force… the monster fell down instantly,

  


Squall and Zell looked at the monster in stunned silence. They'd spent about ten minutes fighting with the monster, and had gotten almost nowhere. Now, after some magic… it was dead. Squall scratched the back of his head for a moment, and then turned around to see where the Wind magic had come from.

  


"That was one strong Areo spell!" Zell exclaimed still staring at the Grendal. "You'd have to build up an incredibly high magic level to be able to actually _kill_ one of these things with it! They aren't even really weak to wind magic, I don't think…"

  


Zell nudged the Grendal with his foot curiously. It was dead all right.

  


"I mean, where'd it come from… and…" Zell stopped as Squall tapped him on the shoulder slowly.

  


"What…?"

  


Zell turned around and saw what Squall was staring at in baffled reticence.

  


"What in the worl….?!"

  


Rinoa stood there, blushing slightly, her left foot propped behind the right, and her hands behind her back. She smiled shyly.

  


"…Well… " she said slowly. "We should keep going, right?"

  


Squall gawked for a moment, open mouthed, and nodded slowly. Zell scratched his head.

************************************************************************

As the three fighters made their way further into Garden, Squall entered the parking garage quickly. He was taken aback at what he saw however.

  


"Sir!" Squall said, saluting headmaster Cid.

  


The headmaster stood proudly, with his hands behind his back. He smiled at Squall a moment… but he didn't move.

  


Suddenly, Cid's image began flashing on and off, until finally, he disappeared altogether.

  


"What the…?"

  


Two SeeDs in the back of the parking lot walked up to Squall. One held a small device in his hand.

  


"It was just a hologram. Pretty cool, huh?" he said. The SeeD held up his hand-held hologram emitter proudly.

  


Squall rolled his eyes. 

  


"Where IS the headmaster?!" he asked impatiently.

  


The other student shrugged and replied.

  


"As you can see, he isn't here, either. Keep looking, you'll find him."

  


Squall was getting tired of this. He waved the SeeDs off and made his way back out to the main hallway.

************************************************************************

"This is taking too long…" Squall said. "The missiles could hit at any moment."

  


Zell sighed heavily. He was especially getting impatient.

  


"Well, let's just check out the training center… " Zell offered. "That's a pretty big area…."

  


_"Yeah… but he could be anywhere in there." _Squall thought.

  


'Whatever." Squall replied. "Let's go."

  


Squall ran into the training center with his hand placed precariously on the hilt of his gunblade. There were going to be a lot of monsters concentrated here, and roaming freely as well…

  


Squall stopped and put up his hand to quiet Zell and Rinoa. In front of them was a staff member and two students who appeared to be working with him…

  


The first student cried out.

  


"Over here! She's one of the headmaster's SeeDs!"

  


the staff member glared angrily in the direction that the student was pointing..

  


"The junior class-men are with her. Don't let them escape" he said with hate in his voice.

************************************************************************

A young red-haired SeeD girl ran deeper and deeper into the training center with two of the underclassmen in front of her. She kept looking behind her, scared and nervous.

  


Suddenly, they ran into a corner, and the students from the NORG faction were closing in on them.

  


"Oh shoot…! I'm sorry" she said. The female underclassmen stood by her SeeD mentor, holding her hand. She knew what was coming.

  


The boy however wasn't going to give up that easily… it was 'the jogger'. 

  


"I'm gonna fight, too!" he cried. The blue-clad young man made two fists as the two student's from the NORG faction came close to them.

  


The first one approached the boy and laughed.

  


"Heh heh heh… This should be interesting" he said in an ominous tone.

  


The young boy jumped at the older student and cracked his fist right into the older boy's gut.

  


"Aahhh!" The student cried. That was the last thing he'd expected from this… kid.

  


The young boy smirked and cocked his fists again.

  


"I'm not training everyday for nothing. Come on!" he chided

  


The older boy spit a little bit of blood from his mouth and glared at the underclassmen.

  


"Why you little…!" 

  


Squall, Zell, and Rinoa were watching the whole thing. Finally, as the students aligned with NORG started grabbing for the three defenseless students, Squall leaped in, swinging his gunblade around wildly.

  


"You'll have to get past me first" he said with a glare.

  


The Garden staff finally approached the group and saw what the situation was. He became infuriated.

  


"Another one of Cid's followers? DIE! Those opposed to NORG must die!"

  


The staff member blew his whistle and quickly ran away. Squall raised an eyebrow at this.

  


_"What's going on…? There's no monster s coming at us this time…"_

  


Squall's thoughts were soon interrupted by a loud boom. Then another. And another.

  


"Uh…. Squall…." Zell said approaching his leader. "What as that…?"

  


More thumping. The ground was shaking now.

  


Squall put his finger to his lips and scanned the surrounding area. What was going on?

  


Suddenly, from behind a group of tall trees, and huge roaring head appeared, followed by its immense body stomping the ground beneath. The beast gnashed its huge teeth, and roared ferociously.

  


Squall gazed up in amazement as the T-rexaur approached the group. A dark shadow covered Squall, Rinoa and Zell, as it came closer and closer.

  


"S-So…. W-W-What n-now….?" Zell asked nervously.

  


Squall looked around. He thought. He tried to explore their options… 

  


There were none.

  


Finally, he just glared up at the monster. It was too big and fast to run away from, and nearly impossible to defeat…

  


Squall snorted and drew his weapon.

  


"We've got nothing to loose now…" Squall said. "Just go for it!"

  


Squall cried out as he lunged at the monster. He sliced into it again and again.

  


Barely any affect.

  


Zell thought and thought. He knew that he wouldn't do very much damage against that thick hide with just his fists… so he decided to take a less-direct approach.

  


Zell focused and began to summon a GF… It was taking longer than usual, but Zell could feel the Guardian Force coming. 

  


"Squall!" Zell cried out. " I'm summoning Brothers! Standby!"

  


Squall didn't listen. He simply kept trying to cut into the monstrous dinosaur.

  


The Beast glared down at his small assailant with curiosity for a moment. Every time the tiny creature took a swing with the sharp object, the T-rexaur would take a step back or forward, avoiding it altogether.

  


Finally, Squall got a good, deep and painful cut in. The T-rexaur went wide eyed and screamed out a deafening roar. The beast lunged down and swatted Squall over with its powerful head. The beast then rammed Squall's body into the ground violently, putting all its weight into the attack.

  


Squall still had hold of his weapon, but he couldn't move it. The monster had his torso pinned down, and it was digging him a good half-foot or more into the ground. It hurt like hell.

  


Finally, the monster lifted its head to see if the small antagonist was dead yet. It cocked its head curiously.

  


Squall blinked slowly at first, but then came to.

  


His body was bruised, but Squall moved about freely within a spilt second. He shook his head and stepped back slowly from the monsters glare, just slightly dizzy.

  


The T-rexaur was surprised that Squall was still moving. It roared in disappointment and frustration.

  


Squall looked back up at it. He was weakened… But something felt different in him. Squall's depleted state had given way to something that, felt like a 'second wind', but was much more than that…

  


Squall took a deep breath, and ran towards the huge monster.

  


The T-rexaur's eyes widened in surprise as Squall sliced into it several times. Again and again Squall cut, pulling the trigger of his gunblade every time. He even kicked himself up close to the monster's chest and jabbed in quickly. Squall was moving fast. Too fast for it to be natural.

  


Then, Squall leapt into the air about ten feet, swinging his sword around his head. He focused all his attention on the T-rexaur, all his aggression. Squall began to utilize the power from stocked magic, and focus it into his attack. A wide circle of energy formed around him, then exploded onto the T-rexaur in one immensely damaging shockwave.

  


The T-rexaur breathed heavily. It was near death. The huge monster collapsed onto the ground.

  


Zell immediately discontinued the summon, and gazed at Squall in awe.

  


"What th… " Zell began. "What the hell was _that_!?!"

  


Rinoa approached a weakened Squall, down on his knees, catching his breath.

  


"Are you alright…?" she said, putting her hand on his shoulder.

  


The attack which Squall had just performed was astounding and frightening at the same time. He didn't even know how he'd done it. The energy just seemed to come into him.

  


Sweat ran down from his face profusely as he nodded, unable to speak for the moment.

  


"I guess all of us have some kind of surprise today, huh?" Rinoa said, trying to lighten the mood.

  


Squall gathered himself and stood up. His thoughts paralleled Zell's questions.

  


_"What the hell was that!?"_

  


Squall gazed about. No one seemed hurt, and the T-rexaur was dead. So long as everything was okay for the, moment, Squall didn't see a need to worry about it.

  


The SeeD girl approached Squall and spoke with relief.

  


"Thanks Squall" she said appreciatively.

  


Squall nodded as he sheathed his weapon. He still felt a little woozy.

  


"Whe…" he paused as he steadied himself. "Where's Cid…?" Squall asked.

  


"The headmaster? He isn't here" the girl replied quickly. She gazed at Squall with concern for a moment.

  


Squall put his hand to his forehead and nodded.

  


"Alright… " he looked towards Zell and Rinoa. "Let's keep going…"

************************************************************************

"Yo, Squall! You gonna be okay? That was a helluva hit you just gave to that T-rexaur!"

  


Zell worried over Squall as they made their way to the Garden's library.

  


"I'm fine." Squall said plainly, getting irritated with all the attention. "And I don't know what happened back there… So don't bother asking me."

  


Zell just nodded quietly, trying to figure it out himself.

  


"Com'on." Squall said suddenly. "This is the last stop on this floor, then we're going upstairs"

  


Squall led Rinoa and Zell into the Garden library. As they walked down the hallway, Squall saw yet another Garden staff member guarding the way.

  


He appeared to be waiting for something. His foot tapped the ground anxiously.

  


"What's taking so long!? Hurry up!!!" he called out.

  


Squall approached the Garden staff from behind and tapped him on the shoulder. As the Garden staff turned around, Squall butted him in the head with his gunblade, knocking the staff member out.

  


_"…damn… that felt good."_ Squall thought as he stepped over the limp body of the Garden staff member. _"Always wanted to do that…"_

  


As Squall entered the Library doors, he was greeted warmly by another group of SeeDs.

  


"Phew! Thanks for your help!" one girl said.

  


Squall nodded and quickly asked about Cid.

  


"The headmaster?" one boy replied. "He's definitely not here."

  


Squall shrugged this time.

  


_"figures"_ he thought.

  


As Squall leaned against the wall for a moment, one of the girls in the library approached Zell. It was the pig-tailed girl that was on the library committee.

  


" Hello… Umm, if you would like… I mean… uhh, if you don't mind… Please use this." She said. Her voice made her sound like a nervous wreak. Se handed Zell a small bottle of 'mega-phoenix' … another super-concentrated medicine.

  


"Thanks a lot!" Zell replied, oblivious to the fact that this girl was obviously smitten by him. He pockted the mixture apriciativly.

  


Squall rolled his eyes as Zell and the girl chatted a little more. Finally, he motioned for Zell to follow him.

  


"Com'on." Squall said. "We have to find Cid or Xu somewhere…"

  


Zell nodded and waved 'goodbye' to the girl. She blushed furiously.

************************************************************************

Out in the front hall. Squall saw someone familiar running up the stairs to the elevator.

  


"Xu!?"

  


It was indeed Quistis friend, Xu. She was running quickly up the stairs and entered the elevator causiously. Squall, Rinoa and Zell attempted to follow her.

  


"She went up…" Squall observed.

  


Squall hit the keypad on the elevator and it came back down quickly. They piled into the lift and the elevator took them to the second floor of Garden.

  


As they excited, Squall ran down the second-floor hall, searching for Xu. He heard footsteps down to the right and followed the noise.

  


Xu turned around nervously as three teenagers came running towards her.

  


"Whose side are you on!?' she called out as Squall, Zell, and Rinoa approached her.

  


Squall rolled his eyes and spoke bluntly

  


" Neither" he replied. "We have urgent news. We need to see the headmaster now. Where is he?"

  


Xu eyed him suspiciously. She barely knew Squall, though he was one of Quistis' students, so she couldn't trust him entirly at this point…

  


"I'm listening…" she said, folding her arms.

  


Squall threw his hand back and cried out impatiently

  


"Galbadian missiles may be heading this way!"

  


Xu's jaw dropped.

  


"Here!?"

  


Squall nodded. Finally they were getting somewhere.

  


"Alright. I'll inform him right away." Xu said. No matter how the situation with the NORG allies was going, the complete destruction of Garden was something else entirly.

  


Squall wasn't satisfied with this however. He wanted to give a report himself… Mainly because there was a lot that'd happened.

  


"Where is he?" Squall asked.

  


Xu finally accepted that Squall wasn't allined with NORG. He didn't seem like that kind to Xu… Most of NORG's allies weren't SeeDs yet anyway.

  


"In his office." Xu said. "We made it look like he's hiding, but he's been there all along."

  


Squall rolled his eyes. 

  


_"So we've been playing the same game that this NORG idiot has been playing the whole time…" _he thought._ "They could have just told us what the hell was going on in the first place…"_

  


Squall shrugged off the irritation and looked at Xu, expecting her to lead them to Cids office.

  


Xu motioned for them to follow her, and ran towards the elevator casiously.

  


"Follow me" she whispered.

************************************************************************

  


Squall , Rinoa and Zell all entered the elevator and went up to the third floor of Garden.

Xu entered Cid's office first, and told him the news. After that, she came out into the lobby and allowed Squall and the other two with him to go into Cid's office.

  


"He's waiting for you." she said. "I'll go tell everyone to evacuate."

  


Squall went into Cid's office followed closely by Zell and Rinoa. They entered and saw headmaster Cid waiting for them, standing near his desk in his customary red vest.

  


"Sir." Squall addressed the headmaster, saluting him.

  


The middle-aged headmaster turned around and smiled warmly at the three teenagers. But his pleasant face was soon covered by a somber frown.

  


"Xu has told me about the missiles." Cid said. "The intercom is down so we can't announce the order to evacuate."

  


Squall shook his head.

  


"Xu, Fuijin, and Raijin are taking care of that."

  


Cid nodded slowly.

  


"I want you to assist them and then evacuate…" he said. Cid hung his head down, seeming preoccupied with something else.

  


_"What's on your mind?"_ Squall thought, curiously.

  


"But I have a lot to report" he argued.

  


Cid put up his hand

  


"You can tell me later"

  


_"You might be dead later"_ Squall thought. He sighed with frusteration.

  


"Do you have a problem with that?" Cid said, slightly annoyed. He didn't appriciate being talked-back to.

  


_"Yeah. What are you going to do?" _Squall thought. He voiced his concerns.

  


"Sir, what are you going to do?"

  


"I'm going to stay here and see this to the end. After all, this place is like my home."

  


Zell was shocked at this. He spome out immediately.

  


"You're plannin' on dying here!?"

  


Rinoa spoke up, too.

  


"No…! You can't! Just come with us, please! You can always rebuild this place!"

  


All three teenagers looked at Cid with concern. How could he do this? But Cid just smiled, not wanting them to worry about him too much.

  


"You can rest assured" he said. "I am just going to try something. There still may be a way to save Garden."

  


Cid took a small step forward, but he tripped over his own foot and fell on his knees.

  


Squall looked down at him with anxiety.

  


_"Agasint missiles…? How?"_

  


Cid laughed, embaressed at his stumble.

  


"Heh heh… I'm too old for this…" he mumbled amiably.

Squall couldn't see how Cid was going to pull off whatever his plan was. It must be difficult, otherwise he'd just tell them what it was… And if that was the case, then Cid probably couldn't handle it.

  


"Sir, I'd like to handle whatever it is that you're planning." Squall blurted out.

  


Cid gazed up at Squall and pulled him self off of the floor. He eyed Squall curiously.

  


"And why is that?" he said.

  


_" …I don't know" _Squall thought. Suddenly, a million reasons came into his mind. Things that felt important to him.

  


"_… Because you might screw up. Because I want to do more than announce the evacuation. Beacuase this place is important to me, too. Because I want to find out your plan. Because this is my home."_

  


The thoughts were overwhelming. Squall fought to keep them back… they brought up too many emotions. 

  


_"…I have too many reasons. I don't know why… Who cares?" _he thought.

  


"My feelings have nothing to do with it, sir" Squall replied coldly.

  


Cid laughed.

  


"Heh heh, Quistis was right. You do have a hard time expressing your feelings." 

  


Squall looked down at the ground. He didn't like to share his feelings, but he didn't exactly like other people to bring that paticular aspect of his personality to attention… He preferred to keep to himself all the time.

  


"_Why bother" _he thought._ "My feelings are my business. Who else would care?"_

  


He glared back up at Cid, who was smileing in a knowing way at him.

  


_" And what is this? Why am I being judged?"_

  


Squall shook his head and imediatly grew impatient. They didn't have time for this.

  


"Sir! Please tell us yor plan!" Squall urged.

  


Cid nodded, realizing that they really did have only a short amount of time left. He began to explain his plan… He was going to let Squall head-off the assignment.

  


"This building used to be a shelter, long before it was remodeled into the Garden as we know it."

  


Cid reached in his pocket and pulled out a small metal object. He threw it to Squall, and nodded… It was a key.

  


"Use that key to open the lock on the elevator. Opening the lock will give you access to the MD level." Cid said.

  


_"MD level?"_ Squall thought.

  


"Rumor has it that further below the MD level, there is some kind of a control system. It was used when this place was still a shelter, so I've never seen it. And I have no idea what it does. All I know is that is was used for the shelter, so it might prove effective against the missiles."

  


Cid took a breath as he finished his explination.

  


"That's what I'm betting on."

  


"_Sounds pretty farfetched." _Squall thought, skeptically._ "But I guess it's better than doing nothing."_

  


Squall salueted the headmaster respectfully. Even if he doubted Cid's abilty to pull through in something like this, he still held him in deep respect and honor.

  


"I understand." Squall said. "We'll find the control system and check it out."

  


Cid smiled apriciativly. 

  


"Good luck to all of you. Who knows what you may run into down there. Make sure you are prepared before you go down."

************************************************************************

  


End Chap. 23

  


*Whew!*

What a long chapter… took me forever to write it…

  


Well, chap 24 is gonna be really boring… just a nessecery boring part to move the story along… But don't worry, I'll have some good stuff in there.

************************************************************************

  


  



	25. Chapter 24: MD level, and Mobile Garden

**Chapter 24**

**The MD level, and Mobile Garden**

  


Squall Leonhart grasped the headmaster's key in his hand tightly. Questions ran through his mind as he led Zell Dincht and Rinoa Heartilly into the Garden's elevator.

  


_"What are we going to find down in the MD level?" _he wondered. Squall hadn't even realized that Garden possessed more areas than the initial three floors. Now that Cid had told them about the MD level, Garden seemed all the more mysterious to him.

  


But Squall, Zell, and Rinoa had more immediate concerns… Garden's survival.

  


_"How can Cid… headmaster Cid… be so sure that whatever is down there will protect Garden. It could just be a shelter, or an alarm of some kind…"_

  


Squall shook the pessimism from his head.

  


_"Well… we have to do something…"_ he thought. _"I can't let Garden be destroyed."_

  


Once they approached the elevator doors, Squall looked around on the elevator control panel for the key-slot.

  


_"Here it is…"_ Squall thought. It seemed funny to him, though. He'd never noticed anything unusual about the elevator before, but now he saw all kinds of buttons and knobs that he'd never had to use. What were they for? Why hadn't he noticed them earlier in his stay at Garden?

  


He inserted the key and the control panel beeped loudly. Squall walked into the elevator, followed by his two companions, and the doors shut quickly behind them.

  


Past the first floor, past the second… After what seemed like minutes of going deeper and deeper into the bowels of Garden, the elevator began to slow down.

  


_"Finally…"_ Zell thought, getting impatient. But the elevator didn't come to a complete stop. Instead, the lights went out, surprising them, and the elevator continued on very slowly, as if it was trying to stop, but couldn't. It shook and came to a sudden halt, jolting the three teenagers. Squall Zell and Rinoa looked around in confusion for a moment, but soon the elevator was lit up again, and they could see.

  


_"What in the world is going on…?"_ Squall thought.

  


He tried to exit through the doors, but they wouldn't move. Squall felt foolish once he saw where they were…

  


Right outside the glass-doors of the elevator, was nothing more than a concrete wall. The elevator must've come to an emergency stop for some reason.

  


_"Figures…"_ thought Squall, folding his arms. _"the elevator hasn't been down this far in years, probably…"_

  


Squall pressed a few buttons on the control panel, trying to make the elevator do something. Anything.

  


_"…It's not responding"_ he thought wit frustration.

  


Squall huffed and glanced over to Zell. The spiky hared young man usually had some input or suggestion… 'Mr. Know-it-all-Zell' would come in really handy right about now.

  


"What!?" Zell said. "I don't know what to do!"

  


_"Great"_ thought Squall sarcastically. He inadvertently shot a glance over to Rinoa. She smirked slightly at him, but spoke matter-of-factly.

  


"Come on. There has to be a way out" she said.

  


Squall rubbed the back of his neck and looked around the elevator compartment. 

  


_"There should be a way out… but whether we can find it or not is a different issue."_ Squall thought. He looked around some more.

  


_"Controls won't work… door won't open…"_ Squall looked up to the compartment's roof. 

  


_"…Ceiling's solid…"_

  


Squall hung his head down, frowning. What were they supposed to do? It's not as if he knew, and it wasn't like there was just some 'magical' trapped door waiting right there for them to…

  


"What in the world…?"

  


He walked over to a small panel on the floor of the elevator, and felt along the edge.

  


_"I'll be damned…"_ he thought. _"I think it's a door…"_

  


Squall pushed on it slightly, and as he did so, it immediately came open. Zell and Rinoa gazed on in gleeful surprise.

  


"Alright!" Zell cheered.

  


Squall ignored his praise. 

  


"Nobody's been here for a while, so be careful" he warned.

  


Squall looked out of the elevator from the small door. They could all fit through it, but they really would have to be careful… the elevator had stopped much too early, and there was a good ninety feet until the light from the next door shined through.

  


"We'll have to climb down this ladder along the edge…" Squall observed.

  


_"Sure looks rusty… I hope it holds."_

  


He felt the first rung and shook it slightly. It seemed steady enough, so he began to dismount the compartment.

  


One by one they climbed out. Squall went down first, followed by Zell, and then Rinoa. They climbed down deeper and deeper until they were about ten rungs from the next opening in the wall.

  


"So… whaddya think's down here?" asked Zell from above Squall's head.

  


"… … I don't know" Squall replied.

  


"Well, Whatever it is, I don't know how its gonna protect against Galbadian missiles…" Zell continued. "I mean, those things are bad-ass! Seriously! ..I can only imagine what they did to Trabia Gar…"

  


"Zell…" Squall interrupted him in an irritated tone.

  


"Huh? …Oh… Sorry."

  


Rinoa giggled slightly at their conversation. Exactly what she'd come to expect from these two… Just then however, they heard a noise coming from above.

  


Rinoa looked up and her eyes widened in fright as she saw the elevator car begin to stir.

  


It was slow at first, just barely creeping along the edges with the sharp scraping noise of metal. Then a loud snap caused the elevator to fall full-throttle down the shaft.

  


Squall and Zell were already inside the opening. They'd heard the elevator's approach and climbed inside quickly, urging Rinoa to hurry as well.

  


Rinoa leapt into the compartment with split seconds to spare. The elevator car came crashing down hard just as she landed. It stopped upon reaching the door, leaning itself against the elevator shaft's walls.

  


Squall stepped foreword as Rinoa leapt in, becoming slightly worried. She'd almost been crushed… But she breathed a sigh of relief, and seemed alright. Squall blushed a little, trying to think of something else.

  


Then he looked directly behind Rinoa, and slapped his forehead.

  


"What? What?" Rinoa asked. "Did I do something?"

  


Squall shook his head.

  


"…No… the…" he sighed in frustration. "…The only way we know how to get out of here just came crashing down…" he said, pointing to the elevator car.

  


"…The cable's probably snapped…"

  


Zell and Rinoa both looked at the cart nervously. Squall was right.

  


"…Look… Whatever" Squall said, wanting to forget about it. "We'll find some other way out… Just don't worry about it… We have other issues at hand."

  


Zell and Rinoa nodded in agreement, though they were both a bit unsure, and the group continued on. 

  


The room they had entered was actually more like a narrow hallway. At the end was a huge part of the ventilation shaft, curving and heading downward.

  


Right in front of the ventilation piping was a small hatchway in the floor with a thick bar-handle on it. Squall, Zell, and Rinoa approached it.

  


Squall reached down to grab the handle. He grasped it firmly and pulled up, but it wouldn't budge. He huffed as he continued to pull on it. He felt it give just a little each time, but not enough to open it… 

  


Then., he gave it one final tug, and the door flew open, revealing another passage.

  


Squall motioned for Zell and Rinoa to follow him, as he jumped down into the corridor.

************************************************************************

  


After they had all reached the floor, Squall looked around. They were in the middle of a huge pipeline. The walls of which were covered with splotches of a thick, black substance…. They were in an oil pipeline.

  


"An oil stratum… " Squall observed. He turned to Zell and Rinoa. 

  


"Watch for enemies weak against fire around here." he warned. "if you junction fire elemental magic, battles should be much easier."

  


Zell raised his eyebrow at this.

  


"Whoa, whoa, whoa… you think there are monsters down here, Squall?"

  


Squall shrugged his shoulders.

  


"Yeah, probably. This area has been abandoned for so long… who knows what's been breeding down here…"

  


Zell nodded with a somber look on his face. The idea of more fighting wasn't appealing to him right now… especially after all the battles they'd fought upon entering Garden's gates…

  


Rinoa on the other hand didn't seem to mind at all. She was happily surprised to discover how well she could use Para-magic, and wanted to try it some more.

  


"Okay, let's go." Squall said. Rinoa and Zell nodded, and began following him down the pipeline…

  


They found that the pipe turned a corner, and opened up to another area. Probably just another duct for the oil to run through.

  


_"Why would Garden need to run so much lubricant through theses pipes…?"_ Squall thought. _"They're huge… big enough for someone twice my height to walk through…"_

  


The approaching pipe-way went down, and had a ladder leading to the floor.

  


_"And why would it need to be so accessible…?"_ he wondered. 

  


Squall decided to forget his question and focus on finding whatever it was that headmaster Cid was so sure about…

  


_"I guess we'll know it when we find it…"_ Squall thought anxiously. _"I just hope it'll help…"_

  


They made their way onto the bottom of the pipe. As they examined the area, Squall noticed that the floor beneath them was actually a huge postern with a split right in the middle.

  


_"So the pipe goes down even further…"_ Squall thought. _"And there's another ladder top right over there too…"_

  


Squall breathed heavily. He was getting tired. 

  


"How far down does this go?!" Zell said. He'd noticed the other ladder as well.

  


Opposite of their position was what appeared to be a small room. Rinoa tapped Squall on the shoulder and pointed it out. Squall looked up and headed towards it.

  


Inside they found a rusted room with a large control panel at the back. The buttons knobs and dials were all either broken or missing from it, but on an extension of the panel was a huge metal turn. On it was an inscription.

  


"…Pipe opening." Squall read aloud from below the wheel. "I guess this is how we go further down…"

  


Squall grabbed hold of the wheel and began to pull on it furiously. He tugged and tugged but couldn't get the turn to move at all.

  


Zell and Rinoa looked on as Squall grunted fiercely, trying to move the rusted old wheel.

  


Finally, Squall released it, and rubbed his wrists. They were getting pretty sore, and the wheel hadn't moved at all…

  


Zell spit on his hands and rubbed them together. He approached the wheel and nodded to Squall. 

  


They tugged on the caster again and again, but to no avail. This thing was really stuck.

  


Finally, Rinoa approached it, and took hold of another part of the wheel. She didn't think she'd be much help, but she hated just standing there watching…

  


They pulled and pulled on it and, finally, it started to budge. Slowly, they turned it over and over, releasing the pressure that it was holding. They turned the wheel, until they couldn't push it any further.

  


"Alright," Squall said. "I guess that's it. Let's keep on going."

  


He led them out of the room and sure enough, the large hatch was completely open, exposing no less than a hundred feet of piping beneath them.

************************************************************************

  


At the bottom of the ladder, Zell, Squall and Rinoa found that it opened into a huge room. More than a room, actually, it was a large steel chamber with glass and metal cylinders coming in diagonally from the circular walls, about 16 of them. Directly beneath the three was a metal walkway which lead down to a circular walk on the floor surrounding a huge support cylinder. The cylinder went up to the ceiling with ladders and all kinds of access shafts going up and around it... The chamber was huge.

  


They jumped down from the bottom rung of the ladder and started down the metal walkway. It was similar to a fire escape, but much longer. The walkway started out near the ceiling and went all the way to the floor.

  


As they reached the bottom, Squall lead them around the column in the middle of the chamber. They looked all around for some kind of control panel or lever or something to tell them where to go next.

  


They walked all the way around the cylinder, and couldn't see another way out.

  


_" …A dead end?"_ Squall thought.

  


Squall, Zell and Rinoa looked around. What were they supposed to do? Where did they need to go next? …That's when they noticed the ladder.

  


" Man, another ladder…" Zell lamented.

  


Rinoa breathed heavily. She was getting worn out

  


"I wonder where this thing goes?" she said.

  


Squall remained silent, but all three teenagers followed the metal rungs up the pillar with their eyes, trying to see where it led. They found themselves turned around and staring across the chamber at a small control room across the chamber, up near the ceiling… The ladder led to a metal walk which traversed all the way around to the control room.

  


Zell gawked at the huge distance for a moment, and then hung his head in frustration.

  


"Oh, over there…" he said in dismay.

  


Rinoa took a deep breath. She didn't feel like climbing up all that way either.

  


"Well, Squall?" she asked. It was up to him to choose their next coarse of action.

  


_" …I have to decide?"_ Squall thought, taking another look at the distance from here to the control room. _"…I don't feel like doin' this anymore then they do…"_

  


Squall looked at Zell and Rinoa.

  


_"I could just send one of them"_ he thought. _" But… Zell and Rinoa… … …"_

  


Squall immediately dismissed the idea. The ladder looked pretty dangerous, and he didn't want to risk one of them getting hurt… Though he felt slightly uneasy about that, so he pretended that it was because he didn't trust them enough. Squall shook his head and considered his other options.

  


_"We could all go, I guess…"_ Squall thought. He took another look at the ladder and sighed in frustration.

  


_"To dangerous. That thing is so rusty, it'll probably bend under just my weight…"_

  


Squall knew what he had to do. 

  


_"I'll check it out"_ he thought. _"That's the safest way…"_

  


Squall looked at Rinoa and Zell.

  


"I'll go take a look" he announced. "You two wait here."

  


Zell breathed a sigh of relief and Rinoa gazed at Squall appreciatively as he placed his gloved hands on the rungs of the ladder. 

  


_"…Thank you…"_ Rinoa thought. She felt bad for not going with him, but the ladder looked pretty dangerous to her as well. She didn't want to risk all of them getting hurt, and the less people on there would be better anyway…

  


_"That's really sweet of him to do that for us, though…"_ she thought. _"…I wonder if he's feeling okay?"_

************************************************************************

  


  


Squall climbed up the ladder quickly, but carefully. It wasn't too bad so far, and the ladder seemed to be holding pretty well.

  


_"…Nothing to worry about, then, I guess…"_ Squall thought with relief. He was about three-fourths of the way up until the metal walkway.

  


Suddenly, he heard a loud snap from the top of the ladder. Then another.

  


_"Dammit… spoke too soon"_ Squall lamented. The ladder began to lean slowly, but as more of the attachments connecting the ladder to the cylinder snapped apart, it fell foreword full-speed.

  


Squall hung on tightly and closed his eyes as the ladder crashed into the control room window. He leapt through legs first, and covering his eyes to avoid being cut to harshly by the shattered glass. He landed on the floor with a loud 'thud'.

  


The young man lifted himself from the floor, brushing the glass out of the creases in his jacket. He looked out what was left of the window. The ladder was still hanging there on the edge, and everything else seemed fine.

  


Just then, however, the metal walkway leading into the room collapsed from afar. Squall was taken aback for a moment as the loud crashing noise echoed through the chamber walls.

  


_"Well… I'm alright… and I'm here"_ Squall thought. _"I might as well see what I can do while I'm inside…"_

  


Squall found his way over to the room's control panel. He examined it carefully at first, but soon realized that most of it was broken.

  


_"The only thing that still seems to be in tact is this switch… I'd better try that first or else I might break one of the other things…"_

  


Squall pushed the switch upwards. He waited for a moment, but nothing seemed to happen.

  


_"Figures…"_ Squall thought. _"We come all the way down here and most of this crap doesn't even work…"_

  


Suddenly, Squall felt the entire chamber vibrate. A loud rumbling from beneath alerted him to what was happening down on the floor…

  


Outside of the metal walk surrounding the pillar, the rest of the floor started to separate.

  


_"It's… it's falling apart…"_ Squall thought with concern. 

  


But the floor wasn't falling apart. He soon realized that it was separating, and tucking the floor sections into the walls of the chamber itself, revealing more of the Garden's MD level below.

  


_"I'd better get back down there to make sure Rinoa and Zell are alright…"_ Squall thought.

  


He headed towards the door to the room, but then remembered.

  


_"The path up ahead collapsed after that collision, so I can't go down this way."_

  


He gazed over to the ladder hanging precariously along the broken window sill.

  


_ "It looks like I'll have to use this ladder again."_

  


Squall frowned with displeasure as he grabbed hold of the metal rungs, and made his way back down to the 'floor'.

************************************************************************

  


"Squall, that was close! You all right!?"

  


Squall leaped down from the broken ladder, and was greeted by Zell's concern.

  


"…Yeah" Squall replied, brushing the hair away from his eyes.

  


Rinoa held her hand up to her metal chain necklace and gazed at Squall with worry.

  


"Gosh, you scared me. That must've been terrifying" she said.

  


Squall rubbed the back of his neck nervously at this. he didn't know how to respond to her concern…

  


"… Maybe a little. Who cares." Squall replied hastily. "We have bigger things to worry about."

  


Rinoa gazed up at him with a curiously raised eyebrow.

  


_"I hope he's alright…"_ she thought.

  


Squall walked over to the edge of the walkway and peered down over the edge. There was another walk below them, and a ladder leading straight down to it. But the ladder was blocked by the railing of the walkway.

  


He looked beside him and noticed a lever with a pulsating green light attached to it.

  


"This must release the gate…" Squall thought. He pulled the lever down, and sure enough, the gate opened.

  


"Come on" Squall commanded. "Just one more ladder, I think…"

************************************************************************

  


Before they reached the bottom of the ladder, Squall, Zell, and Rinoa noticed a strong smell emitting from below. Rinoa winced at the odor.. it was terrible.

  


Squall sniffed curiously, and gazed down.

  


_"…Petroleum…?"_ he guessed. Squall squinted as he climbed down further…

  


_"…Oil."_

  


They finally reached the lower level. Squall looked at the pool of oil surrounding them. It spanned almost forty feet across on all ends, and he could only take a guess at how deep it was.

  


Zell shook his head in confusion.

  


"What is this!?" he exclaimed.

  


Squall shrugged his shoulders, equally confused, and looked around. Still, there was nothing that seemed to be of any use in protecting Garden.

  


Then, a large metal door in the distance caught Squall's attention. It laid across a bridge and even further into the MD level.

  


"_We must be at the bottom…" _Squall thought. "_Through that door might be what we've been searching for…"_

  


He squinted, trying to get a better look at the door. It seemed pretty solid. Squall had no idea how they were going to open it…

  


"Hey, Squall!" Zell cried. "Whaddya suppose this does?"

  


Zell was fidgeting with a small lever on the edge of the walkway. Before Squall could speak, Zell impulsively pushed it down, causing another loud rumble to echo through the chamber.

  


"Opps…. Sorry Squall…" Zell said, sheepishly.

  


Squall rolled his eyes, but was taken aback when he realized that Zell had inadvertently opened the large metal door across the bridge.

  


"Look, Zell!" Rinoa cried. She pointed to the door happily.

  


"Let's hurry…" Squall urged. He quickly started across the bridge.

  


"Hey, Squall…" Zell began. " I thought you said there might be monsters down here… We haven't come across any…"

  


Just as Zell spoke, the pool of oil beneath them began to quiver and ripple wildly. Soon, two huge, slim covered creatures emerged from the natatorium of oil, and propelled themselves onto the bridge.

  


"Uh-Oh…" Zell said, slowly backing away.

  


Slimly, dripping oil smacked across the metal plating of the bridge as the two creatures gyrated their huge, slug-like bodies around, making horrible gurgling noises. Oil slobbered out from every orifice of their thick flesh, and the eye-less creatures wiggled their antennae's around in the air, sniffing out any change in their environment.

  


"WHAT are those things!?" Rinoa yelled with a look of disgust on her face.

  


Squall focused and began scanning the odd creatures.

  


"Oilboyles" he said plainly. "We'll have to get rid of them…"

  


"Oh, gross…" Rinoa said. But she knew that their options were limited.

  


"You don't have to touch them," Squall offered, drawing his weapon quickly. One of the Oilboyles squealed furiously as he did so.

  


"…Just cast fire on them…"

  


One of the Oilboyles pushed itself foreword, and lifted it's muzzle up.

  


"Now!" Squall cried.

  


The command was too late. The sloppy creature spewed out a thick stream of oil at Squall, right into his face.

  


"Squall!" Rinoa cried. 

  


Squall wiped the oil away, but it stuck onto him, and weighed him down. Plus, he couldn't seem to get it out of his eyes…

  


_"Damn… must be charged with energy… some kind of para-magic or something."_ Squall thought. He called out to Rinoa and Zell.

  


"Don't worry about me! Just hit those things with every fire-typed spell you've got!"

  


Squall began to cast Esuna on himself, to remove the blinding effect of the 'Oil'. Zell and Rinoa began casting Fire and Fira repeatedly.

  


Once Squall had recovered, he saw that one of the monsters was backing away. He ran towards it slicing with his gunblade, and finished it off.

  


_"Now for the other…"_ he thought.

  


Squall began focusing heavily, and began summoning Ifrit… A fire typed GF.

  


"This should take care of 'im…" Squall thought. 

  


Beads of sweat rolled down his face as he summoned the Guardian Force. He couldn't do much while he was summoning, or else his concentration would be broken. Zell and Rinoa would have to hold the Oilboyle back.

  


And that's exactly what they were doing. Zell performed his newly developed 'Dolphin blow' on the remaining creature, shocking it severely, while Rinoa hit it with Fira magic.

  


Then Ifrit came forth. He burst from the ground in a flaming mass, and took one look around him. He knew why he had been called from Squall's mind, and the reason lay right before him.

  


Ifrit roared furiously, and lunged up into the air. He formed a massive fire ball in his hands, and hurled it right into the creature below. The Oilboyle cringed for a moment, and then it's slimy body went limp, completely. Ifrit disappeared.

  


Squall wasted no time. He quickly turned to Zell and Rinoa, motioning for them to follow him.

  


"We have to hurry. They might be coming any minute now."

  


Zell and Rinoa nodded and followed Squall as he stepped over the burnt and bruised bodies in front of them.

  


As they entered the opening, Squall, ell and Rinoa found themselves in front of a large hole with a metal grate circling around and spiraling until in reached the bottom. They followed it down to find another ladder awaiting them.

  


Squall urged the other two on, getting more tense with every moment. They'd spent so much time down there, that Squall was getting really worried. Would the missiles hit? They must've been close… But how close?

  


They made their way to the bottom of the ladder, and finally seemed to reach the end of their long journey. A metal walkway led them into another large chamber… But one which was substantially different.

  


Squall approached an operating panel at the end of the walkway, but that wasn't what he was focused on. The three teenagers gawked at a huge, foreign-looking structure in the center of the chamber… It was enormous. 

  


The edifice was about the size of a small apartment building, and seemed to be wrapped around itself. It reached up to the ceiling and was attached by a large converging pillar arriving at the top. Maroon colored cylinders and spires seemed to be positioned about a large sphere bringing everything in it to a center. It looked incredibly convoluted, and yet seemed to have a strong semblance of symmetry and arrangement.

  


" Looks like we're here…" Squall said, still in awe.

  


Zell scratched his head, confused and shocked.

  


"Oh man… What the hell do we do now!?"

  


Squall approached control panel. Everything seemed to be in working order… But he had no idea how to control it.

  


_"How am I supposed to know? Even the headmaster doesn't know."_ Squall thought.

  


Squall shot a questioning glance at Zell. He was supposedly pretty good with tools are stuff… Maybe he had an idea…

  


But Zell caught the meaning in his stare, and backed away, putting his hands up.

  


"Yeah, like I know what to do!" he exclaimed, sarcastically.

  


Rinoa grew impatient.

  


"We can't just sit here and stare at it" she said, putting her hands on her hips.

  


Squall sighed, and rested his hands on the control panel. 

  


_"What to do…? What to do?"_

  


Squall began turning knobs and pressing buttons. He cranked the switch in the center of the array a few times.

  


Nothing happened.

  


"What the heck are you doin'?" Zell cried.

  


" I don't know!" Squall replied angrily. "What else can I do?!"

  


Suddenly, the ground started to shake violently. More aggressively then they'd felt before. It sounded almost like a giant engine was attempting to start, but couldn't. The stumbled around, trying to catch their balance on the shaky floor.

  


*"!!!?"*

  


They floor began to steady after a moment, but the loud hum and a slight shaking remained. Squall gazed up at the enormous central structure, and noticed that it was moving…

  


Spires began turning, electricity began to flow freely through the inner parts of the pillars. The design on the central sphere began turning, and locking into different positions. After a moment, it simply began to turn in one continuous motion.

  


Squall, Zell, and Rinoa all gazed on at this speechless. Without doubt, something big was happening… But what? And would it save Garden…?

  


Suddenly, the structure started lowering itself further into the bowels of the chamber… or so it seemed. The platform which the three teenagers were standing on actually began to rise, faster and faster it went. Squall looked up as they approached the ceiling. Up and up they went. Squall cringed back, expecting to be crushed by the chamber roof, but something amazing happened… 

  


They passed through the ceiling and kept going further up into Garden. The passed through a section of each floor, the ground opening up and creating room for the platform and its supporting pillar. Squall, Zell and Rinoa passed through without a scratch. 

************************************************************************

  


Up in his office, headmaster Cid paced back and forth nervously. The missiles could be coming at anytime, and Garden would be destroyed… unless Squall had been successful. Unless they'd found something to protect Garden against…

  


Cid's thoughts were interrupted by a beaming blue circle of light right below his feel. He looked around the floor in confusion, but was soon jolted by a large platform shooting up, straight through the floor, lifting him up with it as well.

  


Cid rubbed his back, and attempted to pick himself up. He saw three young people above him, looking just as confused and amazed as he felt.

  


The young man with brown hair gazed out the headmasters overhead windows in wonderment. But he soon saw something which caused a distressed look of urgency on his face.

  


"Missiles incoming!" Squall yelled out.

  


Rinoa held her hand to her chest, afraid.

  


"No!!!" she called, squeezing her eyes tightly shut.

  


Seconds past. Squall saw the missiles coming in closer and closer… And then another amazing thing occurred.

  


Squall felt the floor beneath him shake once more, and his stomach turned at the sudden feeling of weightlessness that he immediately recognized.

  


_"…W-what…? We're… floating…?"_

  


Squall saw the bright blue and yellow ring that mounted the top of Garden begin to fall down… no… position itself lower and lower, until it stopped beneath Garden. Squall felt more jerking and pulling, and heard the tumultuous noise below…

  


Garden was being transformed.

  


Squall steadied himself, and took one more shocked look out the window. The Galbadian missiles flew right past them, and hit the ground beneath Garden with tremendous force. The Garden began moving foreword, hovering swiftly across the Balamb plains, followed by a huge cloud of smoke, and terrible shock-wave from the Galbadian missiles.

  


Finally, Squall was able to utter something.

  


"We're moving!?" he exclaimed, his heart racing.

  


Cid picked him self up, still a bit dizzy, and leaned against the control board.

  


"I see… So this is the secret…" he observed.

  


Zell gazed excitedly out the window.

  


"Oh man…! This is awesome!"

  


Rinoa shared his elated, and happy, surprise.

  


"…Wow!"

  


Garden was indeed moving. Everyone paused a moment to take in the shocking revelation… Garden was floating, hovering across the ground.

  


From outside, the sight would have been even more incredible. The huge structure which had stood still and motionless for more then ten years, suddenly lifting itself from the ground, taking roots and enormous clods of earth with it, would have been nothing less than unbelievable. Not only that, but the fact the Garden had actually transformed into something totally different… All seven, plus, extensions of Garden, including the dorms, the cafeteria, and a number of other places, had actually pulled themselves _nearer inside_ to Garden, so that it became one central, floating structure, its blue and yellow glowing ring seeming to keep it aloft, letting the newly transformed Garden ride on top of It as it spun round and around.

  


From inside Cid's also-transformed office, the headmaster began to worry.

  


"I wonder what is going on outside?" he said, looking at Squall.

  


Zell's ears perked up at this. He couldn't wait to see Garden from a different perspective now… This was just too cool for him to bare.

  


"Squall, let's go check it out!" Zell said excitedly. He looked around the platform to find a way down, and luckily enough, a smaller attachment on the pulpit served as an elevator going to the floor of the headmasters office. Zell road down without waiting for Squall and Rinoa.

  


"Come on, Squall, let's go." Rinoa urged, trying to hold back her excitement. She wanted to see outside as well.

  


Squall wasn't sure. He felt like he should stay there and figure out how to control Garden, now that it was mobile, but headmaster Cid encouraged him to go.

  


"I'm concerned about the others. Can you go check?" he asked.

  


Squall hesitantly nodded, and he followed Zell down to the floor. Zell was waiting impatiently at the bottom of the conveyor.

  


"Let's go!" he urged, rushing out of the headmaster's office.

************************************************************************

  


As the three reached the second floor, they heard and saw student's running around, frightened and confused.

  


One student was pacing back and forth nervously in front of the elevator..

  


"What the hell is this? Nobody told us that this thing can fly" he exclaimed nervously.

  


Another student sat huddled in the corner of the hall. Squall looked down at him as they passed.

  


"What's going on? I was hiding for a while, and now I see all this chaos. Man, I'm really scared. Obviously, you're not, eh?"

  


Squall shrugged his shoulders. It was confusing and odd… but…

  


"…I don't know" Squall replied plainly.

  


"Oh… well, take care…"

  


A number of other student's were grouped out in the hall. Most seemed calm enough, but were still very disturbed at the occurrence.

  


" … This is crazy… Ok, ok, just calm down" one girl said to herself. "Take a deep breath. Phew."

  


She began relating the days events to herself quietly.

  


"First the Garden master's men started rounding up SeeDs. Then the fighting began… All of a sudden, the Garden began to shake violently then the missiles came… And now we're flying."

  


Another student stood in the middle of the hallway with his head down.

  


" Man, what the hell were we doin'!? Sittin' around doin' nothin' while those things were comin' at us."

  


One young girl was running around the hallway excitedly. She wasn't scared in the least, but rather enthralled at the whole idea… She stopped Squall as he, Rinoa and Zell passed by her.

  


"Hey, have you been outside yet?" she asked. Squall shook his head. "It's amazing! Just go down the hall and check it out."

  


Squall made his way to the end of the very hallway in which they'd spoken to Xu much earlier. At the end was a door leading to a small platform on the outside of Garden. It usually served as an emergency exit.

  


Squall pushed the door open quickly and walked up the stairwell. Once they reached the outside, bright sunlight hit their faces, and the wind blew quickly, but gently through their hair. All three stood in overwhelmed surprise at the sight, especially Rinoa.

  


Rinoa ran passed Zell and Squall, over to the edge of the platform. She leaned against the side and peered over excitedly. She saw seagulls flying alongside Garden, hovering in the wind, and she smiled with delight. The wind blew stronger near the edge, and her hair flowed freely in the heavy breeze. She gazed all around, brushing the hair from her eyes, smiling the whole while.

  


Squall stayed back, gazing at her. He felt a certain, inexplicable sense of peace and felicity as he watched the young, fair-skinned woman delight at the amazing display before them. Rinoa felt his stare. She turned her head around, still keeping the hair away from her eyes with her delicate hand, and gave a warm, genuine smile at him.

  


Squall raised an eyebrow at this, and blushed slightly. He tried to avoid her eyes, but didn't feel like he had to look away. For some reason, he didn't feel uncomfortable, and didn't feel unhappy with her for making him a little embaressed. One thought kept running through his mind…

  


_"…She sure is pretty…"_

  


Eventually, Squall and Zell came over to the edge and gazed on with her. They gawked wide eyed at the ground below, moving fast in the opposite direction as Garden made its way further and further across the ground. 

  


After a few moments, Squall decided that they'd better head inside.

  


"Come on… Cid might want us back…" Squall said half-hearted… He actually wanted to stay outside a bit longer…

  


But they went inside nonetheless. As Squall shut the door, his eyes adjusted to the inside light, causing him to realize how bright it had been out doors in the sunlight.

  


Xu came running up the hall as they started on down. She looked worried.

  


"Squall!" she cried. "It's the headmaster! Get back to the bridge on the double!"

  


Squall didn't need to hear it twice. He immediately made a run for the elevator.

************************************************************************

  


Atop the control platform, Cid quickly relayed the problem to Squall.

  


"Squall! The controls aren't responding! I don't know what to do!" he said. "We're going to crash into the town of Balamb if we don't do something!"

  


Zell and Rinoa Gasped at this. Squall folded his arms and frowned heavily.

  


"No way!" Rinoa cried. "Can't we do something!?"

  


Zell put his hands to his face. He thought of his parent's in Balamb.

  


"Man…! This can't be happening!!!"

  


Cid looked to Squall. He needed the young man now, more than ever.

  


"Squall, can you think of anything?" he asked.

  


Squall frowned even more. Of course he couldn't…

  


_" …No!" _he thought.

  


Zell urged him.

  


"Squall, C'MON!!!" he said in a frustrated tone. Zell's hands began shaking.

  


"Squall do something!" Rinoa said.

  


_"I've been through this all-too recently…"_ Squall thought. He was once again in the position of leader… something he'd never imagined that he'd have to be in front of headmaster Cid.

  


_" …… How should I know!?"_

  


" Damn!" Squall yelled out harshly. He ran over to the control panel and stated turning knobs and throwing whatever levers he could see. He became infuriated at this array, this machine… At the Garden.

  


_"Damn, damn, damn!!!"_ he thought. _"Why won't this thing just do what it's supposed to!"_

  


Squall became red-faced with frustration and anger. He didn't know what to do! Yet everybody was counting on him! If he made a wrong decision, he would be blamed! If someone was hurt… it would be his fault… 

  


The stress was overwhelming. Squall thought of everybody in Garden, and everybody in Balamb… If he couldn't do something, people were going to die…

  


And it would be his fault.

  


All of a sudden, Garden began to shake again. They all felt the shifting weight of Garden intensely.

  


"WHOA!!" Zell cried. "What was that!?"

  


"Yes! We're turning!" Cid said, observing the sight out of his window. The scene changed from heading straight into Balamb to the ocean.

  


Garden passed right over the top of Balamb with but a couple dozen feet to spare. It started safely on it's way into Balamb's coast.

  


"Alright, Squall!" Rinoa cheered. "You did it!"

  


As everyone celebrated, Zell looked out the window with interest. He raised his eyebrow as the skyline seemed to rise. Suddenly he realized what was happening…

  


"AHH…! We're gonna crash into the sea!" he yelled.

  


Cid looked out and gasped. Zell was right.

  


" Everybody hold on to something!" he cried.

  


With an enormous splash and terrible jolting shake, Garden landed in the ocean. It began to sink, and the four people observing from the control platform were sure that it was over… 

  


But Garden bobbed up quickly, if a bit violently, and remained afloat in the sea perfectly. Once they had their bearings, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

  


"…Phew. Squall, everyone, a job well done" Cid commended them. "I think the worst is behind us for now"

  


" Where are we heading?" Squall asked with concern. In front them now was nothing but water.

  


"We'll drift along for the time being… until we figure out how to maneuver the Garden." 

  


Everyone looked at Cid for a moment. He seemed pretty relaxed after what had just happened… And his 'plan' left a lot to be desired.

  


"So, it looks like we can finally relax for a while. And spend some time considering what to do next" he continued.

  


Everyone nodded. This sounded much more reasonable… they all breathed easily now.

  


"So much for my room" Cid lamented playfully. "Where am I going to change now?"

  


All but Squall chuckled.

************************************************************************

End Chap. 24

  


o.O Garden can fly?! 

  


Yes indeed… well then… uhh… not much to say on this chapter… just wish I would've finished it sooner… -_- … ah well. the next one should be pretty cute…. Ya know, the whole 'hey squall, show me around (Hint hint; 'I really kinda think you're cute and maybe might like you a little bit')' tour thing from Rinoa.

  


Anyway… this chapter actually ended up really good. Maybe a little slow at first, but that's okay… Wasn't Rinoa's balcony scene just adorable? ^_^

  


Next up… chapter 25! (Wow… we're just moving' right along here aren't we?) …It has to do with Squall and Rinoa's 'tour', and a rather enlightening *ahem* 'discussion' with Garden Master NORG… stay tuned there…

************************************************************************

  


  


  



	26. Chapter 25: 'Show me around'

**Chapter 25**

**'Show me around?'**

  


  


Squall Leonhart rested his back on the uncomfortable blanket covering the bed in his dorm. He lay flat, eyes wide open, staring at the ceiling.

  


_"How long has it been since we started moving?" _he asked himself. He turned over to the side, trying to get to sleep.

  


Garden had been floating in the ocean, moving forward for a couple of days now. Squall had been pretty busy helping to clean things up after all the confusion that had taken place.

  


_" There's not much more to do now. We've taken care of all the monsters in the Garden."_ Squall tried to think of something important to do… Everyone else seemed to going about their normal activities, or at least as much as they could…

  


_Oh yeah… I still have to report to the headmaster. There's a lot of things I want to ask about, too."_

  


It had taken days, maybe more than a week, for Squall to get himself, Zell and Rinoa back to Garden from the time they'd left. And after all that'd happened, especially during the first couple of days, Squall had a lot of questions…

  


But Squall thought more and more about what he would have to report… It seemed incredibly odd. Weird dreams, trying and failing to assassinate a Sorceress, becoming imprisoned in a jail for political activists, …Explaining why Rinoa, Garden's client, had to come with them. 

  


_" He's probably still busy trying to reestablish order in the Garden." _Squall excused, not wanting to approach Cid with everything all at once.

  


Squall rolled over in his bed. He closed his eyes and tried to sleep. He even curled up a bit, trying to get comfortable. It was no use.

  


He sat up on his mattress and swung his legs down to the floor. He huffed impatiently, and stood up, gazing out of his bedroom window. He cast his blue eyes onto the huge ocean before him.

  


_"…We're in the middle of nowhere" _Squall thought. _"Man, I'm bored…"_ He folded his arms.

  


"_I hate having nothing to do. It gets me thinking too much."_

  


Squall thought this, knowing full well what was about to happen to him. He tried to fight the impending wave of thoughts and memories, but they came regardless. Questions, reflections, remembrance… all came in. Squall closed his eyes as a deep, pensive look of thought came over his face. He almost felt dizzy at the swarm of thoughts entering his mind. He sat back down on his bed.

  


_"I hope Selphie and the others are all right" _he started. _"Was it wrong for me to let them go? I wonder how Quistis and Irvine felt about it."_

  


The questions didn't stop there.

  


_"That sorceress… who is she? Why fire missiles at the Garden? Is Siefer ever coming back? …"_

  


Squall finally began to feel tired. He yawned as he pulled his legs up onto his bed and laid down.

  


_"…I'll get even with him next time" _ he thought.

  


Squall closed his eyes, and allowed his mind to drift into sleep.

************************************************************************

  


Squall blinked, slowly waking up. He thought he saw someone looking over him, but closed his eyes fast again, oblivious to whoever it was…

  


_"How long was I asleep for…?"_ he thought.

  


He blinked some more, letting the light in little by little. All at once, he saw a pretty, brightly smiling face gazing down at him from a sideways angle. The face was close, inches away, and its eyes darted back and forth with delight as they saw Squall begin to wake up.

  


Slightly confused by the position of her face, Squall shook his head and lifted himself up. She was still there. Her face had only appeared sideways because of him being on his back, staring up.

  


He sat upright on the bed and kicked his legs around to the side. He looked down at the floor, at the person's feet… at _her_ feet, trying to wake up.

  


_"…Rinoa…"_

  


The young girl laughed slightly.

  


"Hey" she greeted him softly.

  


Squall was still trying to wake up, and was a little annoyed. How had she gotten into his room? Didn't he lock it? …How did she know where it was at?

  


_"Zell…"_ Squall thought, immediately placing the blame on the excitable young man

  


Rinoa continued.

  


"You looked so adorable, sleeping like a baby" she teased a little.

  


Squall huffed in annoyance. He didn't want to be called 'adorable'.

  


"Come on, get up. Let's go." Rinoa urged, not giving up.

  


Finally, he realized that she wasn't going to leave unless he responded. Besides that, he was beginning to feel less irritable as he became more alert… Maybe he didn't really want her to leave… He was pretty bored after all, and she was… well… interesting.

  


"Go where?" he said, feigning vexation.

  


"Give me a tour of the Garden" Rinoa said cheerfully

  


Squall's mind went blank for a moment as he tried to comprehend her request.

  


"…Is this another one of your orders?" he said, finally.

  


Rinoa lowered her head slightly as he said this. She became nervous, and a little embarrassed as she bent her knee back, rolling her right foot around on the toe of her boot.

  


"No" she said shyly. "I just want you to show me around. You know, to get acquainted with the place. Please?"

  


Squall tried to think of a reason that he couldn't. Something… anything. He knew what would happen if any of his fellow students were to see them walking around together…What people would think…

  


_"Especially those three girls…"_ Squall thought with annoyance. He knew how quickly rumors could spread in Garden… He would never want to be seen walking around with some girl, lest anyone draw the wrong conclusion.

  


_"Well… I did show Selphie around…"_ Squall thought. _"But only to the directory…"_

  


He looked up at Rinoa and gave a heavy sigh as she gazed at him pleadingly. Her genuine smile and bright eyes seemed to force Squall to feel more and more inclined to help her. He found that he didn't have it in him to say no.

  


"…Fine" he said reluctantly.

  


Rinoa's expression immediately changed to one of delight. She clasped her hands together happily and smiled at Squall appreciatively.

  


"Thanks!" she cried. And with that, Squall lead her out of his room.

  


_"Oh well…"_ thought Squall, trying to act as if it was a bit of a burden to show her around. _"At least no one saw her come into my room…"_

************************************************************************

  


Out in the main hallway, Rinoa followed Squall happily. She had a lot of questions about Garden. 

  


"This place is huge. Do you think it's bigger than Galbadia Garden?" she asked with real interest.

  


Rinoa hadn't gotten a chance to look around Garden on her own yet. The past couple of days had been so hectic, that Cid had asked her to stay in the room he'd set up for her until they at least cleared out the monsters from the hallways. She'd gotten a pretty good idea of the layout while fighting alongside Squall and Zell during the faction-battling… But she really wanted Squall to show her around.

  


"Who knows?" Squall replied apathetically.

  


Rinoa ignored his indifference and continued following him.

  


They started around the main circle and ended up in front of the cafeteria when Rinoa began asking more questions.

  


"What's over here?" she said

  


"The cafeteria" Squall replied plainly.

  


Rinoa turned around and pointed to the opposite side of the hallway.

  


"What about over there?"

  


"The parking lot"

  


Rinoa huffed in slight annoyance.

  


"Squall…" she whined. "I really appreciate you showing me around. But can you try and make it a little more fun? You know, like a normal tour?"

  


She said this with utter innocence and curiosity in her voice. Squall tried to be irritated with her, but he couldn't, much to his displeasure.

  


_"What does she want from me?" _ he thought with frustration.

  


He decided to show her into the cafeteria. Now that the individual sections of Garden had pulled inside because of the transformation, it was a short walk.

  


As they entered, Rinoa immediately noticed a very long line in front of the counter.

  


"This is the cafeteria." Squall began, trying to be thorough. The line behind him started moving as he spelled out everything he knew about the cafeteria.

  


"Obviously, this is where we tale our meals, but keep in mind, there's always competition for the good stuff." 

  


He smirked, just slightly. 

  


"Especially the hot dogs" he explained. "Some of the hot dogs are so popular, you'll be lucky just to see someone eat it. That's why you see this long line, everyday. If you get there too late…"

  


Suddenly, the cafeteria lady's voice boomed out.

  


"We've sold out for today! Sorry!"

  


Squall and Rinoa turned to look at her in surprise. They caught sight of Zell in front of the counter, disappointed. He frowned severely and shook his fists in anger.

  


"…That's what happens" Squall said.

  


"I see…" Rinoa replied. Her mouthed moved funny as she said it though, and finally she couldn't hold it in any longer. She burst out in a laugh.

  


Squall was confused.

  


"…..? …What's so funny?"

  


Rinoa caught her breath. She blushed a little.

  


"You're so serious when you're explaining" she said. "It just seems… kinda odd…"

  


Squall frowned and blushed in embarrassment

  


"You're the one who asked me to show you around" he said, looking away from her.

  


Rinoa immediately felt bad.

  


"Oh, I'm sorry… You don't have to get mad like that…" she said, trying to console him. She began to feel terrible. 

  


_ "Whatever…" _ Squall thought. He just shrugged and shook his head, trying to act as if he didn't care.

  


Rinoa looked at him curiously for a moment, but decided to let the discussion rest.

  


"Ok, next" she said.

  


Suddenly, they heard Zell scream out from his place behind them.

  


"Dammit! Not again…!"

  


Squall glanced over at him and Zell caught his eye. He lowered his voice and tried to be friendly.

  


"…Hey, if it isn't Squall. How long were you here?" he asked, a little surprised.

  


"…We saw the whole thing" Rinoa said.

  


Zell took a step back in surprise. He hadn't seen Rinoa standing there.

  


"Huh!? Rinoa's here, too!? Oh man, I'm not always like that, Ok?" he said, trying to explain himself. He always felt bad after acting too impulsive or excitable in front of girls…

  


But Rinoa didn't seem to mind in the least.

  


"So you couldn't buy any…?" she started.

  


"A-Ah…" Zell began, still a little nervous. "It's Ok to miss one meal a day. I… I've gained some weight lately, too." 

  


He looked around for a moment, and noticed that Squall and her had come in together, and no one else was with them. It didn't take long for him to make an assumption... 

  


"W-Well, see ya!" he said, running off. He didn't want to intrude on their 'time' anymore.

  


Squall looked at him oddly.

  


_"What was that about…?"_

  


Squall rolled his eyes and signaled for Rinoa to follow him.

  


"Whatever… I'll show you the quad, I guess…" he huffed, making his way towards the exit.

************************************************************************

  


  


  


***------------------------------PLACE MARKER BONUS!---------------------***

  


**(Sick of reading right now? Take a break, and find your spot right here when you come back to the story!)**

  


**Well, I haven't had one of these in a while… What I have for this chapter's PMB is more word-for-word conversations which have little bearing on the progression of the story, but without which the chapter would be 'incomplete'. So here we go…**

  


**This first one takes place in the cafeteria. If you approach the student's eating at the table on the left, you can read this in the game.**

  


  


Student 1: "…What was all that commotion a while back…?"

  


Student 2: "Yeah, I know. Somethin' about headmaster faction, Garden Master faction… 

It was pretty weird. They were huntin' down the headmaster for who knows what…"

  


Student 3: "What are you talkin' about? You were the one runnin' around screamin', 'I 

support the Garden Master!' " 

  


S2: "How 'bout you! You sided with the Garden master 'cause you saw that we 

were gaining in numbers!"

  


S1: "Enough about that. It's over, right!? (sigh) …I wonder where we're going…?"

  


S2: "Yeah, where are we headed…?"

  


S3: "Never expected this to happen…"

  


**(The other conversation is with the Trepie and his friend. It never changes and they are always there, -_-… so I don't think it needs to be put in.)**

  


**This next part takes place in the quad. Apparently, this area gives a nice view of the ocean, and some student's have congregated here. I put these here so Squall doesn't need to approach everyone when I write it in… **

  


  


**Male student playing guitar:** "I'm worried about mom and pop back in Balamb. But I knew 

a time like this would come eventually… A time for me to embark on a never-ending journey…"

  


**Female students;**

  


**Blond: **"You know what…? I'm never gonna forget about my Garden 

friends."

  


**Dark-skinned:** "Yeah, let's be sure to keep in touch even after we graduate!"

  


**Brunette: **"And let me know right away when you get yourself a 

BOYFRIEND! That goes for everyone. Promise!?"

  


**Bld: **"No problem! I promise! I promise!!!"

  


**Bld thought:** _"Oh no… I can't let her know I have a boyfriend."_

  


**DS thought:** _"You guys are sooo great. I'll definitely keep my promise."_

  


**Brn thought:** _"I'm sure I'll have one before she does."_

  


  


**Male student on ladder:** "Man… Just gazing at the ocean kinda makes you forget 

about all that studyin' we've endured…"

  


  


**Students sitting on ropes on the edge;**

  


**Female Student: **"The boundless ocean… I wonder… What's to become of 

us…?"

  


**Male Student:**"Don't think we'll be graduating for a while…"

  


**FS thought:** _"I don't mind… Just enjoy the moment."_

  


**FS:** "Wish we could go far, far away…"

  


**MS:** "I wonder if our dreams await us beyond the horizon…?"

  


**FS thought:** _"My dream… just as uncertain as our situation?"_

  


************************************************************************

Well, that's that. I included those to give a better feel for what I write next… 

^_^

************************************************************************

  


As Squall an Rinoa entered the quad, they heard the sound of the ocean, crashing up against the walls of Garden. The quad was an open-air antechamber, as it had been before the transformation. Now it gave a breath-taking view of the deep sea, as Garden floated gently along.

  


Squall saw that several student's had congregated there, taking in the view, or just enjoying themselves. One student sat on the stage, playing his guitar. The gentle tune seemed to fit in nicely with the scenery of the ocean.

  


The room seemed to be pervaded by a comfortable, yet uncertain air. Student's sat around talking, laughing, and enjoying each other's company. But all seemed overcome by a sinking feeling of doubt and uncertainty when they cast their eyes on the ocean.

  


"It's nice here." Rinoa said plainly, beginning to share the pensive demeanor of all in the room.

  


She and Squall took in the sight of the waves and short glimpses of land, countries, far off in the distance. Although seemingly untroubled, Squall became a little nervous at being around so many of his fellow students with Rinoa right next to him.

  


"Well, uh… let's keep going" Squall said finally. Rinoa seemed not to hear him for a moment, but then lifted her head in surprise.

  


"What?… oh, alright" she complied. 

  


Rinoa followed Squall out of the quad. She tried to pretend not to notice that he was blushing once again, and she took one last gaze out onto the sea…

************************************************************************

  


Out in the main hall, Squall showed Rinoa to Dr. Kadowaki's office.

  


"This is the infirmary, " Squall explained. "Dr. Kadowaki is Garden's medic."

  


They entered the infirmary door, but Squall immediately noticed that Dr. Kadowaki wasn't sitting at her desk like usual… she wasn't even in.

  


_"That's odd… She's usually here"_ Squall thought.

  


Dr. Kadowaki came in suddenly. She was surprised to find the two teenagers standing right at her door. 

  


"Hi there, Squall" she greeted him kindly. Her eyes moved down to Rinoa, and she stepped back, with a curious look in her eyes.

  


"Oh my…" she exclaimed. " It's not everyday, I see you walk around with a girl! Is she your girlfriend?"

  


The suddenness, and seriousness of her question caught Squall completely off guard. It took him a while to answer, and the question caused him to examine his mind a little bit too closely for it to be comfortable.

  


"Yes" he replied quickly, startled by his response. He had, for a split second, thought it might be funny to say 'yes' as sort of a joke… But he didn't actually plan on saying it.

  


_"Oh my God! Squall! What the hell are you doing! What the hell made you say that!?"_ Squall thought, chastising himself. All the while, he looked at Rinoa, his gaze never wavering. What was she thinking?

  


Rinoa gawked at him. His reply to the question was… Shocking, to say the least.

  


"Are you serious!?" she cried. "Squall!?"

  


There was a long pause. Neither of them spoke.

  


_"Damn, damn, damn,…"_ Squall thought. He assumed the worst. _"Now she's probably thinks that I'm a pervert or obsessed with her or… something… Oh my God… How am I gonna get myself out of this…?"_

  


"I'm gonna take it seriously" Rinoa said stubbornly. She tried to be playful about it, but she was incredibly curious… Was he really being serious?

  


Squall once again found himself replying with the first thought that came to his mind. God, he was nervous!

  


"I'm serious" he said. He squinted his eyes, and wished that just for one second that he could turn his mouth off. What was he doing? …He surely didn't mean what he was saying… did he?

  


Rinoa's eyes went wide at this. She wasn't sure if she was happy or confused… Was he for real?

  


"Woo" she exclaimed. "I'm speechless."

  


Squall thought fervently, barely even listening to Rinoa anymore. As nice and pretty as Rinoa was… His girlfriend? Absolutely not. How could he have feelings for this silly teenage girl? He finally calmed down just enough to get himself out of this situation.

  


"I'm serious_ly_ joking" Squall said. It took every fiber of his being to say this without stuttering, and _not _blush. He let his tense muscles relax after uttering those words. 

  


_"…Nice save"_ he thought.

  


To his surprise, Rinoa sounded disappointed. She looked down at the ground…

  


Oh…well, I guess that's a pretty good one for you" she said.

  


Dr. Kadowaki laughed at their conversation.

  


"Ha ha ha… You guys are cute."

  


She then remembered something important.

  


"Oh, do you guys know where headmaster Cid is? That guy works too hard. Tell him to come see me when you see him."

  


Squall nodded at her, and quickly tired to leave the infirmary.

  


"Hey, Squall!" Rinoa called after him. " Wait for me!"

************************************************************************

  


Squall continued to show Rinoa around. For some reason, he lead her inside the parking lot.

  


"Just a parking lot. Nothing special" He said, not sure why he had even bothered to go inside. They wouldn't even have a use for the parking lot anymore… Really, he was still nervous from Dr. Kadowaki's question in the infirmary.

  


"… That's it?" Rinoa replied.

  


"Yeah" Squall said, shrugging.

  


Rinoa slapped her forehead.

  


"Never mind. Let's go."

************************************************************************

  


Squall decided to show her into the training center next… He thought it might help him forget about what Dr. Kadowaki had asked him..

  


"This is the training center or, as we call it, the monster's lair. The monsters are left to run loose so the students can get a feel for actual combat." 

  


He looked to Rinoa.

  


"Wanna try?"

  


Rinoa laughed slightly at this.

  


"You know, I can imagine you doing this on a first date. You're so romantic…"

  


Squall folded his arms and looked away. 

  


_"Whatever…"_ he thought. He'd been embarrassed enough for one day… All he was trying to do was give her the tour, like she wanted…

  


"Fine… let's go to the Library, then" Squall said. And they left the training center.

************************************************************************

  


They walked into the library quickly. Squall thought that Rinoa would probably get bored in here as well…

  


But Rinoa gasped as they entered. She looked about excitedly.

  


"Wow! This is so cool!" she exclaimed. "Mind if I look around?"

  


Squall nodded. He didn't mind.

  


_"Wow… guess I was wrong…"_

  


"Thanks!" Rinoa replied.

  


Squall watched her for a moment as she ran off to look around the bookshelves for a bit. They'd been in there during the faction battling, but apparently Rinoa hadn't noticed anything in all the excitement. It was cute, how excited she'd gotten over Garden's impressive book collection.

  


Squall decided to take a look around himself. The computers in the classroom were much more reliable, and easier sources to use, but they didn't have everything that the library did. He made his way into the back of the library, to the study area.

  


Squall was taken aback however, as he saw something… Someone that he didn't immediately recognize, but seemed vaguely familiar. Squall approached the person slowly. It was a girl in blue, with a green shawl wrapped around her arms…

  


The girl turned around as she heard someone approach her. She smiled warmly as she saw who it was.

  


"Hi" she said.

  


Squall finally begin piecing it together.

  


"…I saw you in the infirmary" he observed.

  


"You saved me from the monster" the girl replied, appreciatively.

  


"Who are you?" Squall asked abruptly.

  


The girls smile turned into a saddened frown at this.

  


"Try to remember" she said.

  


"Remember?" Squall replied.

  


"It'd be heartbreaking for me to know I was forgotten" The girl said sadly.

  


Squall was confused.

  


_"…Remember? …So I know this girl?"_

  


She turned away from him, sadness in her voice.

  


"It'd be nice to talk about old times again" she said. It sounded almost as if she was speaking to herself.

  


Squall rubbed the back of his neck. He had so many questions… but the girl had turned away, and didn't seem to want to speak with him anymore. He wasn't sure, but he thought he heard her sobbing as he walked off.

  


Squall came back out to see Rinoa waiting for him.

  


"Find anything?" he asked. 

  


Rinoa nodded excitedly, and held up a book… A romance novel.

  


Squall rolled his eyes at this. 

  


" 'kay… let's go" he said.

  


Squall and Rinoa made their way out of the library. Squall seemed especially quiet.

  


"What's on your mind…?" Rinoa asked.

  


Squall almost told her about the strange girl he'd been seeing around… But he remembered how much he disliked confiding in anyone.

  


A small girl's voice emitted from down the quiet hall.

  


"I'm going to become a SeeD someday"

  


Rinoa and Squall continued on their way, Squall looking down at the ground in deep thought.

  


_"I still feel so lost… What has been going on lately?"_

************************************************************************

End Chap. 25

  


Cute, eh?

  


Well, I'm done for now… *yawn* going to take a nap.

  


Oh! Here's something extra… some more of those conversations thingies that I was too lazy to write in…

  


**What Squall could've said in the infirmary.**

  


**Squall:** "No, I'm just showing her around."

**Rinoa: "**Squall… Gosh, can't you just say 'yes' for fun?"

**Squall: "**Alright then, 'yes'."

**Rinoa: "**Oh… Say it like you mean it."

  


**Three girls outside parking lot:**

  


**Blond: **"That was terrible"

**Brunette:** "I know"

**Blnd: **"You were so loud, cryin' like a baby."

**Brun: **"I did not!"

**Blnd: **"Yeah right. WAH WAH WAH!!! BOO HOO HOO!!! Does that ring a bell?"

**Brun: **"I…didn't cry… wah wah… didn't mean to…"

**Blnd:** "I'm kidding! Gosh! Stop crying! I'll buy you an ice cream!"

**Brun: **"…You promise…?"

************************************************************************

  


  


  


  


  



	27. Chapter 26: QA, QR

**Chapter 26**

**Queries Answered, **

**Questions Raised.**

  


Squall gave a deep throated sigh as he walked out into Garden's main lobby. He almost forgot that Rinoa was following him.

  


_"Things calmed down pretty fast…"_ he thought. _"But there are still so many questions I have…It doesn't feel like things are clam at all… just confsuing"_

  


He almost chuckled at the irony of his thought.

  


_"SeeDs don't question… they don't ask 'why?' …"_ he thought. _"But I'm sick of being confused… I want some answers."_

  


Squall looked up as he heard some face-paced footsteps approaching him… One of the Garden faculty.

  


_"They're still running around, huh…Even after all that stuff about 'killing the headmaster for…' who was it again? …NORG…"_

  


"Student ID no. 41269, Squall?" the Garden faculty asked quickly.

  


"Yes" Squall replied without hesitation.

  


"The Garden Master wishes to see you. Report to the Master's Room right away."

  


Squall was fairly surprised at this. NORG wanted to see him? …Why?

  


"Where is the Master's room?" Squall asked.

  


"Take the elevator to level B1. You have permission."

  


"But the elevator is brok…" Squall started, but Rinoa tapped him on the shoulder.

  


"I think Cid said that it was getting repaired… they must be done" she informed him.

  


Squall nodded in reply. There was a short silence

  


"So…" Rinoa began inncoently. "Can I come with you?"

  


Squall shrugged. 

  


"I guess" he said. 

  


Normally, he would've said 'no'. The Garden Master had asked for only him, after all. But he couldn't care less about following protocol right now… He was too angry and confused.

************************************************************************

  


As Squall and Rinoa dismounted the elevator on floor B1, they gazed about the room with interest.

  


The dark blue walls and glowing light gave the room quite an eerie luminescence. There was also some mechanics and heavy computer cables strewn about. Once again, Squall found himself amazed at the secrets that Garden held.

  


Suddenly, they both heard a voice around the corner. It sounded frustrated.

  


"Please! Listen to me!"

  


Squall recognized the voice after only a moment.

  


_"…The headmaster's here?"_

  


As Squall and Rinoa struggled to hear the rest of the conversation, they also heard the sound of the elevator. It dinged loudly, and a young man came out from it's sliding doors.

  


"What are you guys doin' down here?"

  


Zell Dincht came down from the elevator's platform, and walked down to meet the two. 

  


Squall glared at him. How did he get down here?

  


Zell noticed his stare.

  


"What? Oh me?" he started. "I came down 'cuz I saw you guys" he explained quickly.

  


They heard Cid some more. It sounded like he was struggling with someone.

  


"Let go of me! I'm not finished!" he cried out.

  


He appeared from around the corner, and one of the Garden faculty members shoved him away.

  


"Greedy son-of-a-bitch! Why did I even bother talking to you! SeeDs were brought up for the future! And that future is now! Why can't you understand!?" he screamed at them loudly.

  


The same Faculty member approached the infuriated headmaster, and grabbed him by the neck. He glared angrily from underneath his yellow hat, and threw Cid to the ground. Satisfied, he walked away.

  


"Dammit!" Cid cried. "I should've never trusted you! I wish I could go back ten or so years… To tell myself that you're nothing but a money grubbing son-of-a-bitch! Then I would've never built this place" 

  


Cid hung his head, dejected and angry.

  


The three teenagers approached headmaster Cid with concern and interest.

  


Cid turned around in surprise.

  


"Squall!?" he exclaimed. He looked about nervously "…You heard everything?"

  


"…Yes" Squall replied plainly.

  


Cid's face flushed a bright red color.

  


"I'm embarrassed, but sometimes even old men like me lose their temper" he tried to explain. But he already felt like he had lost face… too much for these children to respect him anymore.

  


Cid started for the elevator, and turned back to Squall.

  


"Let's get out of here" he encouraged.

  


Squall pointed at the Garden faculty, indicating that he had been called down, and had to stay. Cid nodded.

  


_"…oh" _Squall thought, remembering something.

  


"Sir, I still have to give you my report" Squall said.

  


"Please come to my office later" Cid said mechanically. He made his way onto the elevator, and left. 

  


The faculty member approached Squall now. He addressed the whole group.

  


"You're the SeeDs who returned from Galbadia, correct?"

  


"Yes" Squall replied, trying to hold back the contempt in his voice. 

  


"It's about time" the faculty member chastised. "Master NORG has been waiting for you. Come."

  


Squall followed the cloaked figure around the corner. The three teenagers found themselves in front of a huge circular pod. It appeared to be some kind of stasis tube, three in fact. One large container in the center, plus two on the side. It was marked with foreign designs, and flood-light size bulbs sticking out of the ends. Huge cables ran into it, and they glowed brightly.

  


As they examined the pod, another faculty member appeared.

  


"Whenever Master NORG calls you, be sure to be there within 3 seconds" he ordered.

  


Suddenly, a loud rumble sounded. Like a deep, gurgling voice…

  


"Fusursuru… 3 seconds are up" the voice sputtered.

  


The sound of air being released quickly sounded as the central pod began opening. The hatch lifted upwards, revealing the Garden master, NORG himself.

  


His appearance matched his voice, but came as a rather confusing surprise to Squall and the others. NORG was large. The yellow skin on his body lapped over itself with layers of fat. His head was almost shaped like a cone, with no nose, and a long mouth spanning from, what would have been, ear to ear… if he had had any ears. 

  


NORG waved his hands in the air, apparently showing his frustration. He had abnormally long fingers, with not two, but three bending joints in each.

  


_"…This is the Garden master? The proprietor of Garden? …He's not human? Come to think of it, we didn't know anything about him"_ Squall fell silent as he considered this.

  


_"………What a shock."_

  


NORG grew impatient.

  


"FushifuruFushifuru…" he stammered. "GIVE-YOUR-REPORT-ON-THE-SORCERESS."

  


Squall scratched his head and look at the ground.

  


_"Now where do I start…?"_

  


The faculty members whispered to him angrily.

  


"Answer him quickly. Be concise."

  


_"It's going to be a sad report"_ Squall thought, shrugging.

  


"…We failed to assassinate Sorceress Edea." Squall began. "Confirmation of Headmaster Cid's order was made at Galbadia Garden. After Irvine Kinneas of Galbadia Garden joined our party… …We set off to carry out the 'sorceress Assassination' order from Balamb and Galbadia Gardens…"

  


NORG suddenly became infuriated at this. He interrupted Squall.

  


"Bujurururu!" he chanted. "BALAMB-AND-GALBADIA'S-ORDERS!? Bujurururu! YOU-WERE-FOOLED!"

  


_"Fooled!?"_

  


"I … don't understand" Squall said plainly.

  


NORG rolled his large, squinted eyes in disgust.

  


"Fushurururu… EXPLAIN-TO-THEM" he said, waving his hand at the Garden faculty.

  


"Master NORG has known about the alliance between the president of Galbadia and the Sorceress. He heard it from the Galbadia Garden master himself" one of the faculty members began.

  


"The Galbadia Garden master…?" Squall said, not immediately remembering.

  


"Fushururu… " NORG started. "THE-MASTER-OF-GALBADIA-GARDEN-IS-A-SUBORDINATE-OF-MINE-NAMED-MARTINE."

  


The faculty member continued.

  


"Yes. In fact the sorceress and Garden are closely connected. That is why the sorceress will definitely try to gain hold of all Gardens. So Master NORG sent an official order to Galbadia Garden. It was to kill the sorceress. An assassination was thought to be the best means." 

  


"But…" Squall began, still not understanding.

  


"Bujurururu!" NORG gurgled. "THAT-SLY-WEASEL-MARTINE-USED-YOU-AS-A-LAST-RESORT-FOR-THE-ASSASSINATION. HE-GAVE-THAT-ORDER-TO-PLACE-THE-BLAME-ON-ME! THAT-THAT-BASTARD."

  


"Are you saying that Balamb Garden had nothing to do with that order?" Squall said with contempt.

  


The faculty member nodded.

  


"You just happened to show up just before the mission was to be carried out. They used you. But the operation failed. The sorceress is still alive and…"

  


The other faculty member interrupted him.

  


"The sorceress retaliated. Just as we suspected. No doubt, it was the sorceress who ordered the missile attacks."

  


The first spoke again.

  


"Something must be done to calm the sorceress' anger."

  


Squall took it all in slowly. At the last comment, he held up his hand.

  


"Wait a minute..." he protested. "That's just…"

  


The faculty member stopped him.

  


"In order to do so, we needed to hand over those involved in the assassination to the sorceress. We had to show Balamb Garden's sincerity."

  


He spoke in past tense to Squall, as if trying to make a point…

  


NORG burst out in excited anger.

  


"Bujurururu! OFFER-THE-SeeD's-HEAD-ON-A-SILVER-PLATTER-AND-PRETEND-WE-OBEY-THE-SORCERESS!" he commanded.

  


Squall went wide eyed at this.

  


"Wha… Why aren't we fighting the sorceress!?" he yelled. Squall became infuriated. Why shouldn't they resist an enemy of Garden?

  


"What about all the training we endure everyday!? What good is it!?" Squall argued.

  


NORG glared down at them.

  


"WHAT-DID-YOU-SAY!?" he replied. "YOU-LOST-TO-THE-SORCERESS! QUIT-YOUR-WHINING!"

  


The Garden faculty members looked at each other. One began shaking his head.

  


"Headmaster Cid was saying the same thing…" 

  


The other one shook his head 'no'. He didn't want to anger NORG

  


"H-Hey…" he said, trying to keep the other quiet.

  


"Bujurururu!" NORG cried out. The faculty members gazed up at him in fear, and ran off.

  


NORG continued his tirade. He spoke quickly and angrily.

  


"CID!? THAT-IDIOT-CID-DISPATCHED SeeD-TO-KILL-THE-SORCERESS. AND-IF-YOU-FAIL? THIS-GARDEN-WILL-BE-DONE-FOR! MY-GARDEN! IT-WILL-ALL-BE-OVER!" 

  


He stopped to catch his breath. He breathed in and out carefully.

  


"THAT-IDIOT-CID" he continued. "HAS-HE-FORGOTTEN-THAT-IT-WAS-I-WHO-PUT-UP-THE-MONEY-TO-ESTABLISH-GARDEN!? I-WANTED-TO-OFFER-THE-SORCERESS-CID'S-HEAD-ALONG-WITH-SeeD'S. I-ORDERED-THE-STUDENTS-TO-FIND-CID-BUT-THEY-SIDED-WITH HIM!"

  


He stopped for a moment. NORG seemed to be talking to himself at this point.

  


"Bujurururu! Bujurururu!" he muttered. "THIS-IS-MY-GARDEN!"

  


"NO!" Squall cried out. "It's not just yours."

  


NORG once again glared down at Squall.

  


"Bujurururu! THEN-WHAT-IS-IT!?" he mockingly asked. "IS-IT-CID'S-AND-EDEA"S!? THAT-PATHETIC-MARRIED-COUPLES!?"

  


"What…?" Squall began.

  


"_The headmaster and Edea are married!? …I don't get it."_

  


NORG's eyes widened, and he nodded slowly.

  


"Bushurururu" he mumbled. " …NOW-I-UNDERSTAND. CID-AND-EDEA-ARE-TRYING-TO-TAKE-GARDEN-AWAY-FROM-ME." NORG began pressing buttons and pulling levers from inside his pod.

  


"YOU"RE-ONE-OF-CID'S-FOLLOWERSS-AREN"T-YOU!?" he screamed down at them. "PREPARE-TO-DIE!"

  


Rinoa cried out at this.

  


"Squall!"

  


NORG's pod began to close. His gurgling voice could still be heard from inside.

  


"BLUE-YELLOW-RED …AS-LONG-AS-ORBS-STAY-RED-I-WILL-ATTACK-SeeDs-WITH MAGIC" he said to himself. He didn't realize the tactical advantage he was allowing the SeeDs by revealing this.

  


Squall noticed the lights… the large orbs on the side of NORG's pod… They were altering colors quickly.

  


"Zell! You and Rinoa smash those orbs! I'll attack the center pod, until we bust this thing open…!"

  


Zell and Rinoa nodded, and went to work. They were able to keep NORGs magical attacks to a minimum, as long as they kept attacking each orb.

  


Squall found that his gunblade could easily penetrate the metal covering of NORG's pod. He sliced into it as much as he could, yet it still remained shut, concealing NORG.

  


"DAMN-THOSE-SeeDs!" NORG cried within his pod. "THIS-IS-MY-GARDEN! YOU-CAN'T-DO-AS-YOU-PLEASE!"

  


Squall sliced in once more. The pod door burst open, revealing a frightened and frustrated NORG.

  


_"Better scan 'im, just to make sure that he doesn't have any tricks up his sleeve…"_ Squall thought. As he did so, he noticed that NORG possessed a GF… A water typed Guardian force called 'Leviathan'. He drew it, and signaled for Zell to move in for a final attack to NORG.

  


As his pod began exploding and short-circuiting, NORG shrunk back in fear.

  


"FUSHURURURU…" he yelled at the top of his lungs. "I'M-DONE-FOR! I'M-AFRAID-OF-YOU! ME-WHY-ME…?" 

  


A bright, blinding light flashed as NORG screamed. 

  


"What's happening?" Squall thought, shielding his eyes. The lightn became more and more intense with each passing moment.

  


It soon began to die down. After the light lifted, Squall's eyes adjusted and he gazed up at a huge orb of energy surrounding the inside of NORG's pod. It swirled with a yellow and purple mass of colorful energy.

  


Zell and Rinoa shook their heads.

  


"What the hell was that?" Zell cried.

  


Squall immediately waved his hand at the sight.

  


"Forget about it for now" he said. He didn't even want to try and think about it.

  


"I can't believe you just said that." Rinoa exclaimed. "I think what just happened is really serious."

  


She was right, of course, but Squall glared at her furiously. What did she know?

  


"What's the point of talking about it now!?" Squall retaliated. "You don't know what's going on, either!"

  


A long silence came over the room.

  


Squall took a step back, and put his hand to his forehead.

  


"This is crazy" he said, much calmer now. "I don't know what's goin' on anymore. I feel like a helpless puppet being manipulated in some…" He huffed. "…major scheme"

Rinoa's eyes widened in sympathy. She now understood why he had overreacted. She walked over to him and put her hand on his shoulder, trying to be consoling.

  


"Squall…" she began softly.

  


It felt comforting, to have her hand on his shoulder, but Squall shook it away. He didn't want to rely on anyone to comfort him… He just wanted his questions answered.

  


"Yeah…" he said angrily. "I'm goin to see the headmaster."

************************************************************************

Well, okay. A short chapter, but interesting nonetheless.

  


I have to say, I am getting a little dicouraged in writing this fic. I have such a long way to go… and am having such a little amount of time to spend on it… -_-… I dunno... I'll continue writing because I have dedicated myself to some extent on this… but… aw hell. I dunno. I really don't know what I'm trying to say here… I just needed to get a little rant out….

  


Next capter will be up soon, hopefully.

************************************************************************

  



	28. Chapter 27: Ellone

**Chapter 27**

**Ellone.**

  


Squall entered Cid's office, throwing the doors open. He quickly walked onto the platform leading to the control deck, and went up. He expected to find Cid there… but there was no one.

  


_"Dammit. Where could he be?"_ Squall thought. 

  


He stood there a second with Zell and Rinoa behind him.

  


_"He seemed pretty upset with NORG… So where would he go?"_

  


The answer hit Squall like a brick.

  


_"Dr. Kadowaki's…"_

************************************************************************

  


"Do you need to see the headmaster?" Dr. Kadowaki asked, as Squall burst through the infirmary door, followed closely by Zell ,and Rinoa.

  


Squall gave her a stone cold stare, and answered sternly.

  


"Yes, now."

  


"Well, the headmaster is kind of…"

  


Headmaster Cid's voice came in from behind a curtain.

  


"I'm ok now doctor" he said.

  


"Are you sure?" she replied.

  


"yes," Cid answered. "I believe I'm done crying."

  


"…Just take it easy, ok?" Dr. Kadowaki encouraged.

  


She turned around and looked at Squall.

  


"He's got a lot on his mind." She explained, feeling embarrassed for Cid.

  


Squall walked past her without so much as a word. He headed straight for Cid in the back corner.

  


Cid noticed his approach, and scratched the back of his head.

  


"You all see me in such an embarrassing state" he said. Cid sighed heavily. 

  


"Well… what shall we talk about?" he said. Cid had guessed that Squall probably had a lot of questions.

  


_"… …"_

  


Squall's mind drew a blank. Now that he had an opportunity to ask, he couldn't think of his questions.

  


Finally, a starting point occurred to him.

  


"I want to make a report" Squall said.

  


Cid held up his hand and stopped him.

  


"No, no… it's not necessary" he said. "I can guessed what must've happened."

  


_"…Well… I…" _Squall thought. He wanted to say what'd happened… but the look on Cid's face made it seem as though he really knew what had occurred.

  


_"Well… I have plenty of other things to talk about"_ Squall thought harshly.

  


"Please…" Squall began. "tell me about the real meaning of SeeD."

  


After all of Seifer's questions in the D-district Prison, Squall had begun to wonder if what he thought he knew about SeeD, was really the whole truth.

  


Cid looked somewhat surprised at this question. He answered in a confused tone.

  


"SeeD is SeeD. The elite mercenary force of Balamb Garden" he said. "Hmmm, do you know something about SeeD?" he asked.

  


_"I never know anything" _Squall thought.

  


He looked at the ground, contemplatively. Cid folded his arms and his tone changed. He decided to reveal all that Squall did not seem to comprehend.

  


"SeeD will defeat the sorceress" he explained. "The Garden will train SeeD members."

  


Squall looked up at him with an odd look.

  


"The many missions around the world are only training for the final battle against the sorceress" Cid continued. "But now that the sorceress has become a major threat, our true mission has begun."

  


Squall nodded. Though this was new to him, surprisingly, it didn't make much of an impression. It was a rather substantial discovery, no doubt, but Squall simply accepted the fact, almost as if he was accepting orders for a typical mission. The Sorceress was SeeDs enemy. The world's enemy. She had to be stopped.

  


But another question, related to the latter, lingered in Squall's mind.

  


_"According to what NORG said… The sorceress is the headmaster's wife… Why would we fight against her…?"_

  


"Please, tell me about sorceress Edea" Squall started. "I heard she's your wife."

  


Cid's eyes widened at this, but he tried to retain his composure.

  


"You're quite right…" he said sadly. "She had been a sorceress since childhood. I married her, knowing that."

  


Cid sighed as his thoughts strayed to the past.

  


"We were happy. We worked together, the two of us. We were very happy" Cid said. "One day, Edea began talking about building the Garden, and training SeeD."

  


Cid chuckled slightly at his next sentence. 

  


"I became obsessed with the plan" he said. He continued in a saddened tone, however…

  


"But I was very concerned with SeeD's goal, that one day SeeD might fight Edea…"

  


Squall raised his eyebrows at this. Zell and Rinoa were listening intently as well.

  


"She laughed and told me that would never happen. However…" he trailed off, letting Squall fill in the blank.

  


Squall nodded, though not completely understanding. Why would Edea want to fight them now? And why would she have built Gardens, only to fight against the SeeD which had been trained there?

  


Cid seemed saddened with the subject, so Squall let it go for the moment. He had other questions…

  


"Tell me about Master NORG."

  


Cid nodded slowly as he requested this information.

  


"He is from the Shumi tribe. A black sheep of the tribe, one might say." Cid cleared his throat, becoming uncomfortable. 

  


"We met while I was running around, trying to find funds to build the Garden. He became interested in building the Garden, and we hit it off. Thanks to his funding, it was completed." 

  


Cid lowered his voice in shame.

  


"However, we needed an enormous amount of funds to run the Garden. So we began dispatching SeeDs around the world as a means of supporting the Garden." He looked up, knowingly.

  


"NORG's idea was right on the money. An enormous amount of capitol began flowing into the Garden… And the Garden began to change." Cid sniffled. "Lost sight of our high ideals, the truth was covered up…" He sighed heavily and frowned.

  


"That's probably enough" he said. "In the end, it was my fault for giving up control."

  


Squall nodded, beginning to understand.

  


"What do we do now?" he asked.

  


Cid lifted his head up, happy to have the subject changed. 

  


"We must stop drifting around soon… I only hope that we can get things back to the way they were."

************************************************************************

  


Squall, Zell, and Rinoa excited the infirmary slowly, all silent. Squall was staring at his feet, Zell was yawning loudly, and Rinoa simply folded her arms, bored. They were all confused by what the headmaster has told them. It seemed as though the more answers they got, the more questions arised.

  


"Squall! Squall!" A voice rang out from the elevator.

  


Xu came rushing down the stairs in an excited flurry. 

  


"Have you seen the headmaster around?" she huffed out.

  


Squall looked at her blankly, wondering what she could be in such a hurry for.

  


"He's at the infirmary" he informed her.

  


Rinoa piped up, happy to have something happening.

  


"Sounds like trouble. What's wrong?" she asked.

  


Xu gasped and let out her words with one breath.

  


"Go to the 2nd floor deck and see for yourself. There's a ship approaching. It could be Galbadians or worse; the sorceress might be aboard, coming to attack us! I have to tell the headmaster right away!"

  


With that, Xu ran off to the infirmary.

  


Squall Zell and Rinoa looked at each other with concern. If Xu was right, they were in for a lot of trouble… All three ran up to the elevator, making their way to the 2nd floor deck.

************************************************************************

  


As they came out of the elevator, Squall immediately noticed several students hovering around the hallway nervously. He made his way past them quickly, followed by Zell and Rinoa.

  


Squall flung open the deck doors, and ran to the edge of the deck. Though he knew what had been coming, he still couldn't believe it… A Galbadian ship.

  


_"A ship? A Galbadian ship!?"_ Squall thought with amazement.

  


He leered over the edge, warily. Squall noticed three youthful figures clad in strange white uniforms approach the ship's edge, and gaze up at them.

  


A young man with spiky black hair spoke up. 

  


"Is Headmaster Cid here!?" he cried.

  


Squall bluffed.

  


"No, he's not here. Are you from …Galbadia?"

  


"We are SeeDs!" the voice replied. "This is Edea's ship. We are Sorceress Edea's SeeD!"

  


Squall frowned at this.

  


_"SeeD!? …Edea's SeeD?!"_

  


The young man called out again. His voice gave him an air of command.

  


"We're coming aboard! We're unarmed!"

  


Suddenly, though the ship was as far as 15 feet below their deck, the three young men leapt up onto the platform with ease. Squall, shocked though he was, remained silent and frowning. He and Rinoa drew out their weapons, while Zell stood ready to attack with his fists.

  


"Please" the young man said softly. "We come in peace."

  


Squall examined him for a moment, and noted that he really was unarmed. They sheathed their weapons, and Squall allowed the young man to continue… but he kept his hand placed near the butt-end of his gunblade, just to be safe… 

  


"We must speak to headmaster Cid" the dark hared youth urged. "Where is he?"

  


Cid's voice rang out from behind Squall.

  


"I'm right here."

  


Squall, Zell, and Rinoa all moved to the side as Cid approached Edea's SeeD, alongside Xu, who glared at the newcomers suspiciously.

  


"Headmaster, " the stranger began. "we've come for Ellone. It's too dangerous here now."

  


Cid paused "…Yes, I'm afraid so."

  


_"Ellone?"_ Squall thought. _"…That girl from Winhill?"_

  


Cid turned to Squall, noticing his head hanging down in deep thought. 

  


"Squall. You know who she is?" Cid asked. He didn't give time to respond. "Please go find her. She's here somewhere in the Garden."

  


Squall looked up at Cid and nodded. He then gazed over to the white-clad SeeDs from the Galbadian ship.

  


_"Who are these guys? How are they connected?"_

  


Cid looked at him questioningly. 

  


"Squall?"

  


Squall sighed heavily. He didn't know the first place to look for her, but all the same, he replied "…Yes, sir."

  


Squall started through the door, but he felt something grip at his jacket.

  


Xu had grabbed hold of Squall's shoulder.

  


"I'll help you, too" she said, and she ran ahead of them.

************************************************************************

  


For the first time in about an hour, Zell spoke up.

  


"Squall," he started, "Ellone's that girl, huh? Y'know, that little girl Laguna was taking care of."

  


Squall answered quickly as they walked into Garden again.

  


"Probably."

  


"So she's in Garden? Where is she?"` Zell asked.

  


Squall shrugged.

  


_"…Maybe it isn't even the Ellone from Winhill… Maybe this is all just a coincidence.. Maybe… Maybe…"_

  


Squall hoped that this was a mistake, but Zell's loud voice shattered his hopeful thoughts…

  


"Let's split up and find her" he said excitedly.

  


Zell ran off without waiting for a reply. His feet stomped loudly throughout the empty halls.

  


Rinoa approached Squall slowly. She became curious about this 'Ellone' character…

  


"Hey, Squall, who's Ellone?" she asked curiously.

  


Squall looked down at her.

  


"She's a person in the 'dream world'" he replied curtly.

  


Rinoa nodded, and winked at him playfully, as if to say, 'oh, I see'. She went off to help search for this girl from the 'dream world'.

************************************************************************

  


Squall walked through the hallways aimlessly. He peered into a couple of the class rooms, and even in the training center.

  


_"The training center…" _he thought, exiting the area._ "That's where me and Quistis saved… saved… What was her name? …She didn't say what her name was… those men just came and lead her away…"_

  


Squall stopped in his tracks as he began piecing things together.

  


_"The white SeeD… they were here before… with…was it Ellone? But HOW?! …and… I… I just saw her in the library, didn't I?… she was… not a little girl."_

  


Squall put his hand to his forehead. It seemed that the more he found out, the more he didn't know.

  


_"…Well, if she is Ellone… THE Ellone… She might be able to tell me what the dream world is… why we experience it… Who she is…"_

  


Squall became nervous with anticipation as he made his way to the Library… he could feel his palms begin to sweat, and he wondered whether or not he wanted to hear the answers to his questions.

************************************************************************ 

  


He stood behind her, his hand on his hip. Squall was certain that she hadn't heard him come into the library, and he was still considering what to say as she sat at the library desk, seemingly unaware of his observation.

  


But she knew he was there.

  


"Yes, Squall?"

  


Squall took a step back. She had said that she knew him, but being called by his name from her only served to make him wary.

  


"Are you… Ellone?" he said slowly.

  


Ellone smiled to herself.

  


"Yes…"

  


Squall let go of the breath he'd been holding in.

  


"You're Ellone? THE Ellone?" he said, nearly exasperated.

  


The girl in blue nodded, still not looking at him. His upset tone worried her, but she seemed to expect it.

  


_"What is going on?" _Squall thought. _"How is she Ellone? Ellone was… was…a little girl… and she lived with…with HIM."_

  


"You know… Laguna, don't you?" Squall said abruptly.

  


Ellone closed her eyes and sighed deeply.

  


"I do. I really love uncle Laguna."

  


Squall became immensely upset. Plus, the calmness she seemed to embody only made Squall's frustration more apparent. He wanted answers, and she wasn't volunteering the information readily enough. He yelled out angrily, causing the girl to wince, as if in pain.

  


"Then tell me! What is it that we experience!?"

  


Ellone lowered her voice. She turned around to face Squall finally. Her eyes were watering up at the corners, but her mouth remained steady, unshakable.

  


"I'm sorry, Squall. It's hard to explain" she said. There was a pause as she looked at him. 

  


"But… one thing… It's about the past."

  


Squall felt some relief at this new information, but he was disturbed all the same.

  


_"…So we were viewing the past?"_ he thought to himself. _"If that's all… then how did Laguna use my junctions…?"_

  


Ellone stood and began walking past Squall. She stood with her back to his, feeling unable to face him with what she now had to say.

  


"People say you can't change the past." 

  


She turned and looked up at the back of Squall's head. 

  


"But even still, if there's a possibility, it's worth a try, right?"

  


Squall rolled his eyes almost instinctively

  


_"Change the past? Is she serious? Give me a break…"_

  


He put his hand to his forehead in annoyance. However, his eyes became wide as he realized the significance of her words. Laguna sensing his junctions… That somehow affected the past. Ellone wanted to change the past… Squall looked up and his eyebrows became slanted with fury.

  


"Are you the one responsible!?" he cried out hysterically. "Are you the one taking us to that 'dream world'!?"

  


Ellone turned around. Had Squall seen her face, it would have been one of utter shame and sadness. Ellone felt as if her heart had just been run through. 

  


"I'm sorry" Ellone said, confirming his assumptions. 

  


_" ...Not again"_ Squall thought. _"So much I don't understand"_

  


Squall turned around, and forced Ellone to look into his face.

  


"Why me!?" he cried out angrily. "I have enough problems as it is! Don't get me involved in this!" 

  


Squall sputtered in frustration. Why did she do this to them? What did he have to do with it? 

  


_"… Why… why is she relying on US?!"_

  


Ellone's lower lip now began to quiver, and she fought hard to choke back the tears.

  


"I'm sorry."

  


Squall began to step back in fear. He gazed at Ellone with horror.

  


" D-Don't …count on me…" he said. He became worried, and distraught. Squall sat down where Ellone had been sitting previously. He felt sick to his stomach. 

  


Suddenly, as they sat there, Xu walked in the library study area to find Squall sitting with his head between his knees, and a girl in blue on the other side of the room. 

  


"Squall, did you find Ellone?" Xu asked.

  


Ellone turned around, her eyes red, but otherwise recovered from the confrontation.

  


"Umm… I'm Ellone."

  


Xu nodded respectfully, but looked at Squall.

  


"Are you all right?" she asked. He didn't seem to be doing very well, but he didn't respond.

  


Elllone gazed at him sadly. She approached his slowly, and placed her hand gently on his shoulder. She whispered…

  


"(You're my only hope.)"

************************************************************************

  


Squall tossed and turned in his bed. He felt as if he was on the verge of tears, but they never came. Though pleased, Squall felt that he somehow needed the release. 

  


_"Why do people depend on each other? In the end your on your own. I've made it this far by myself. Sure I couldn't do a thing when I was a kid. I've depended on others, but…"_

  


Squall huffed heavily, frustrated that he couldn't even defend his opinions against his own logic very well. He went through his thought process to reassure himself of his stance.

  


_"I'll be the first one to admit that I'm here because of other people. I'm fine by myself now. I have all the skills I need to survive. I'm not a child anymore."_

  


He smirked contentedly for a moment, but only before realizing how untrue the thoughts were.

  


_"That's a lie. I don't know anything. I'm confused."_ He turned over squeezing his eyes tightly.

  


_"I don't want to depend on anyone. How can I do that? Someone tell me…"_ Squall hoped desperately that someone would just enter his room right then and there, and give him all the secrets, all the answers he didn't have. They didn't come. Squall was left alone with the irony of his own mind.

  


_ "Someone? So I'll end up depending on others after all."_ He chuckled sadly, despite himself.

************************************************************************

  


A little boy stood out in the rain, shivering against a tall marble pillar. His brown floppy hair was soaking wet, and clung to his forehead. He sneezed loudly as the rainfall became heavier and heavier.

  


"…Sis…"

  


The weather replied with a soft rumbling of thunder off in the distance. The little boy's bright yellow shirt contrasted with the weather, and his mood. He kicked at the ground and noticed that his shoelace was untied. 

  


_"I'm… all alone"_ he thought dejectedly. _"But I'm doing my best…" _ the little boy reassured 'Sis' that he would be okay. He sniffle loudly.

  


_"I'll be okay without you, Sis. I'll be able to take care of myself."_

  


************************************************************************

End Chapter 27.

  


Aw. So sad.

  


Next time, we get to witness more crazy adventures, as Squall + co. 'Visit' FH! Won't that be fun! ^_^ …Seriously, though, at this point, I think the game really takes off. I think I'll be able to finish this thing in about 20 more chapters… mind you, I'm not going to be going over A LOT of the sidequests and stuff, because, well, hell, I just want to have a completed story up.

  


Boy this fic is taking a long time. It's been nearly 9 months since I started it… Isn't that sad? Pheh. Give me good reviews so I don't give up on this. I need some encouragement or something' …

  


Cio!

  


************************************************************************

  


  



	29. Chapter 28: The Crash

**Chapter 28**

**The Crash**

  


  


_"Sis… where are you, Sis…?"_

  


A sleeping figure rolled around in his bed, disturbed by images in his mind. Squall's eyes rolled around swiftly within their lids violently.

  


_"I'm alone… a… alone… lone… Ell…"_

  


Suddenly, a sharp tapping sounded from a distance. For a moment, Squall was caught between that fine line of dreams and reality as he woke up. The tapping got louder, and Squall became wary.

  


_"What…what's that…?"_

  


A young girl strode into Squall's dorm room cautiously. Rinoa looked around at the sleeping young man, suppressing a giggle.

  


Squall opened his eyes and his face flushed red as he noticed her come in.

  


"Hey, again." Rinoa said. 

  


Squall went on the defensive immediately

  


"I wasn't asleep" he said, trying to forget the visions from his disturbed rest.

  


" Oh really?" Rinoa smirked. "I think I heard you talking in your sleep."

  


Rinoa turned her head and looked up at the ceiling.

  


"I'm not telling you what you said" she said, defiantly.

  


There was a long pause.

  


_"Fine by me…"_ Squall thought, feeling quite embarrassed. He couldn't even remember what he'd said.

  


Rinoa then spoke abruptly.

  


"Hey, let's go for a walk" she said.

  


Squall shook his head wearily, still trying to wake up. He rolled his eyes as he heard Rinoa's suggestion.

  


"Again?"

  


Rinoa wined.

  


"That was a guided tour!" 

  


She then lowered her voice.

  


"This time, it's a walk."

  


Squall felt tired, and somewhat angry that she'd come in to bother him about this.

  


"Just go by yourself. It's safe here" he lamely assured her.

  


Rinoa folded her arms in frustration.

  


"It's not that I want a guard with me" she coaxed. Rinoa found herself at a loss for words. How was she supposed to get through to him if he wouldn't let her? What was wrong with him? Didn't he see that she was trying to be friendly? That she needed a friend right now, as well?

  


"You know…" she started, getting an idea. "You're always too deep in thought."

  


She sat down on Squall's bed right next to him.

  


"Why don't you lighten up a little? It's not good to think too much."

  


Squall didn't give a response. He just sat there, looking uncomfortable.

  


Rinoa sighed heavily.

  


"What I'm trying to say is…" she paused a moment, preparing for her little 'joke'. "It would be my honor… to have your company, your highness, in hope that I may get your mind off things."

  


Rinoa stood and bowed before Squall, mocking allegiance to 'his highness'.

  


"How about it, your highness?" she said, looking up at him.

  


This utterly frustrated Squall. He had a lot on his mind at the moment. The sorceress… The whole situation with Ellone… whether or not Selphie and the others were still all right, or even alive. But as sullen as he was feeling at the moment, Rinoa still made him laugh to himself. She seemed to always be able to do that to him… 

  


_"God, that's irritating…"_ he thought_._ Squall had to admit the fact, even to himself, that Rinoa's odd ways of getting his attention seemed to work.

  


"Fine" he said, feigning apathy.

  


Rinoa continued with the teasing.

  


"Thank you, your highness! Alright, let's get goin'!"

  


Squall led her out of the dorms, and into the main hallway. Rinoa almost grabbed his hand as they began wandering, but she thought better of it.

  


Immediately after they started, however, a loud chime sound came in over the Garden's P.A. system, and headmaster Cid's voice sounded.

  


"Hello everyone. This is the headmaster speaking. The lines have been fixed, and I'm glad to be back on the air" he said "Hurrah!"

  


The expressions of happiness were cut short by a sudden and abrupt silence. Suddenly, Cid's voice came on again, but in a very different tone.

  


"UM!? WHOAA!!!" he cried out. And then the floor started to shake.

  


************************************************************************

  


A old man sat on a extended crane above the ocean waters, fishing pole in hand, and his rear in a comfortable folding chair. The fisherman rested underneath an old umbrella, but remained alert, lest he get a bite. The rusted machinery behind him made his position on the docks of town look oddly out of place.

  


He stretched his arms wide, and yawned.

  


"Boy, it's a slow day" his raspy voice came out loudly. He drew his line back in, and cast out. "Come one. Give me a big one" he chanted.

  


The only thing in the water today was the tall stone pillars that stuck up out of the water, just a couple dozen yards away from the old fisherman's spot. The pillars were laced with rope, machinery, and dotted at the bottom with an endless supply of coral. The area was serene, and peaceful… or at least it wound have been, if not for the loud noise approaching the fishing town.

  


A large globular shaped object rushed towards the old man. It's blue and white hull shone brightly in the midday sun as it approached.

  


The waves began crashing up against the disks violently as the blue ship rushed forward, becoming larger and larger. Finally, the loud crashing against the water caught the old fisherman's attention. 

  


He gazed up quickly and his eyes widened in horror. The old man stood frozen for a moment as Balamb Garden came crashing into the pillars of the Fisherman's Horizon. He came-to as he felt a tug on his fishing line, which was still gripped firmly in his hand. He looked down at his fishing line, and then again at Garden. He it his bottom lip nervously as he attempted to pull the in the only bite he'd gotten all day.

  


"Com'on… just a little more…"

  


It was a strong fish.

  


"ARHHGG!!!" the old man yelled. He dropped his fishing line and ran as fast as he could, away from Garden.

  


With a finalizing 'Boom!', the Mobile Garden crashed it's way into The small town, of Fisherman's Horizon, and came to a halt.

************************************************************************

  


Squall and Rinoa lay sprawled on the floor, stunned and confused.

  


"What was THAT?!" Rinoa exclaimed, picking herself up.

  


Before Squall could reply, the headmaster's voice came in over the PA system.

  


"Squall! This is the headmatser speaking! please come to my office! Repeat. Please come to my office right away!"

************************************************************************

As Squall and Rinoa came abroad the Bridge, Cid was still giving commands into the Public Address microphone.

  


"Everybody please remain calm. Also, please do not leave Garden under any circumstances until you are permitted. We will try to get things back in order A.S.A.P. Thank you for your cooperation."

  


Cid heard Squall's approach on the bridge elevator.

  


"Ah Squall, thank you for coming" Cid said. "Here are your orders" he commanded abruptly.

  


"We've landed on Fisherman's Horizon. Please go ashore with Zell and Rinoa. Find the local mayor and apologize for this accident. Tell them that we come in peace"

  


Squall nodded obediently. Cid was about to send them off, but remembered one thing.

  


" Take a look around the city while you're there, too."

  


Squall saluted and stood upright.

  


" …yes, sir."

  


But Squall actually thought with disdain at this.

  


_"…Why do I have to go?"_ he thought.

  


Cid noticed his frown, and lowered his glasses.

  


"Do you have something you want to tell me?" he asked.

  


Squall gulped.

  


"No…"

  


Cid sighed heavily.

  


"SeeD is not just a special force for combat. I want you to see the world… To broaden your horizons" he lectured. "I have high expectations of you, Squall" Cid smiled at him

  


"Now go. Squall, our fate lies in your hands."

  


Squall's eyes widened in surprise at this last comment.

  


_"What does he mean by that?!"_

  


Cid chuckled at his expression

  


"Heh heh heh. Scared you there huh? I was just trying to say be careful. Don't offend anybody in Fisherman's Horizon."

  


Squall rolled his eyes. Offend someone? How could he? 

  


_"I mean… really, what more could we do? If they're gonna lynch us, then it isn't gonna be because I offend someone… the damage has been done…"_

  


Squall gave a final acknowledging nod to Cid and descended that platform. At the bottom of the headmaster's office, Zell and Rinoa stood there waiting. They'd been listening.

  


"What's up? Are we going to Fisherman's?" Zell asked excitedly.

  


Rinoa chuckled. It seemed to her that the entire Garden was already in Fisherman's Horizon now.

  


"We're here!" she exclaimed.

  


Squall ignored their comments and recited the orders.

  


We've landed in Fisherman's Horizon. We'll make an official apology, then observe the town.

  


Zell nodded

  


"Yo, go to the 2nd floor deck to get to fisherman's. The front gate's closed" he reminded Squall.

************************************************************************

  


As Squall came out of the Garden his eyes were instantly pierced by bright sunlight. He blocked the sun with his hand and gazed out over the town before him.

  


_"So this is Fisherman's Horizon…"_

  


Squall noticed a crane and some metal rigging made found it's way on to the platform. It seemed to well placed to have merely landed there when Garden crashed…

  


Suddenly, a man wearing a black shirt ran up the metal walkway and took a cautious glance at the three teenagers. He turned around and yelled to his co-workers.

  


"Here they come" he cried. He turned back to Squall and spoke abruptly. 

"We've come to warn you before you go ashore. Do not engage in any type of armed conflict in the city. We do not tolerate belligerence here."

  


Another man in black approached the group. He spoke gruffly.

  


"Do you understand?" he asked.

  


Squall was quiet for a moment. He hadn't expected to be 'greeted' right away.

  


"Yes" he finally said. "We are representatives of the Garden and we come in peace."

  


" …." The worker in the black shirt looked at them skeptically for a moment, but finally eased his tone.

  


"Welcome to Fisherman's Horizon, then. We just call it FH"

  


The other man spoke up.

  


"You should go visit the mayor. His house is in the middle of the city. He's the head of FH."

  


Squall nodded in appreciation.

  


"We'll do just that."

  


The man in the black shirt accepted them fully now, nodding.

  


"Good. Looks like we understand each other."

  


Now that the air was cleared, and no one appeared upset, Squall breathed easily.

  


"Man, this is a hell of a mess" one of the men said, putting his hand to his forehead.

  


"I'm terribly sorry" Squall apologized. "It was inevitable… We lost control of the Garden."

  


The man looked to Squall, and then back at Garden. He covered his eyes as he gazed up.

  


"Nah, don't worry about it. What's important is that nobody got hurt. We love fixing stuff anyway." 

  


He smiled at the three. 

  


"Kick back and enjoy your stay."

  


Squall nodded appreciatively, just a little surprised at how friendly they were being. He motioned for Rinoa and Zell to follow him.

  


They started up the metal rigging, and further into FH.

  


As they made their way into town along the walkway, another workmen approached them.

  


"Hey… That's Balamb Garden, right?"

  


Squall cocked his eye at the man.

  


"That's right. How did you know?" he asked.

  


"From those patterns on the wall. We painted it a long time ago." He sighed, thinking about the past.

  


"Those were the good old days" he said. He turned to Squall and smiled. "Tell the mayor I said hi."

  


The man that had first approached them called down from the top of the metal walkway. 

  


"Yo! Let's go!" 

  


The man tipped his hat to Squall and started in the opposite direction.

  


Squall continued along the metal planks, observing what appeared to be the docks of FH. Soon they reached a high spot and Squall was able to view almost the entire town. 

  


Fisherman's Horizon was a rather small, and insignificant fishing village. Most would have considered it unremarkable in every way, except for it's curious position in the middle of the ocean. The town was built on a small rock-mass, subject to frequent flooding. But the denizens of FH relied heavily on their mechanical and technical skills, so adding to the town and preventing floods soon became routine practice. Ultimately, the village became fully functional, and perhaps even more productive than most towns on dry land.

  


What added to the charm of FH especially was the spectacular solar panel which gave energy to the entire town. Constructed in a fairly short time, and encompassing the entire circle of the town center, the solar panel was huge, and quite imposing. Yet the people of FH led simple lives, even with their impressive technical skills, and virtually unlimited power resource.

  


Squall stood in awe at the site of this village. Though, save for the solar panel, it was mostly nothing special to look at, he thought carefully about the town's location and how carefully it must've been constructed. He was impressed.

  


An old man stood in front of the three, gazing at the town as well. He turned around, noticing the newcomers.

  


"I heard Balamb Garden lost control. That's why you have to keep up with your maintenance. I would have never let a thing like that happen" he lectured. Without allowing for response, he turned back to gaze once more at his village.

  


Squall shrugged, unaffected, and made his way down a set of metal stairs. Still on the outskirts of town, they made their way around a large cylindrical structure, along a metal walkway hovering above the shallow water splashing against it. At the end was the man they had first encountered, stationing an elevator leading down into town. 

  


"Going down?" the man asked.

  


Squall looked down, and then at the elevator. It was little more that a flat surface moving at an angle down to town… An _in_clinator. 

  


"Yeah"

  


" Ok" he replied, reading the lift.

  


"…So…" he began "you guys going to Esthar?"

  


"Esthar?" Squall replied.

  


"You know… that hi-tech city. It's just beyond the train tracks"

  


Squall shook his head. Hi-tech city? Esthar? What made Esthar so different…? 

  


_"…Come to think of it… What do we know about Esthar…?"_ Squall thought. _"Ah, well… Whatever."_

  


The man noticed Squall's confused expression.

  


"I guess you're not going there." He shrugged. "A Lot of people who stop here go there."

  


Squall nodded, feigning interest.

  


"The trains are down, so the best way to get there is to walk from here." The man laughed. "What a joke, huh? Anyway…"

  


Squall yawned loudly. The man went silent and cleared his throat.

  


"So… uh… You guys had an accident and came here, huh? I guess I shouldn't keep you" he said nervously.

  


He finished preparing the elevator, and with the tap of a button said, "Ok, get on."

  


Squall, Zell and Rinoa mounted the lift, and prepared to enter FH.

************************************************************************

  


  


The three dismounted the inclinator. As they walked along, another of the workmen approached Squall. He had a question.

  


"Are you a SeeD by any chance?"

  


"…Yes" Squall replied plainly.

  


The workman nodded, but frowned. He spoke again, somewhat agitated.

  


"I heard that you guys are, like, mercenaries, and basically fight anybody for money. Are you happy with that kind of life?"

  


He squinted at Squall as he spoke, almost asking the question rhetorically.

  


Squall folded his arms.

  


_"What's his problem? Is he trying to pick a fight?"_

  


The man shook his head and gestured as a sign that he didn't want to talk about it.

  


"Never mind" he said. "The way you live your life is none of my business. Just don't cause us any problems"

  


Squall became startled at his sudden change of mind, and even more so because his tone seemed familiar. Squall looked down at the ground nervously as he realized who this man reminded him of.

  


_"…He sounds just like me. I guess it doesn't sound very nice"_ he thought to himself.

  


The man turned around to look out on the water.

  


"I hope I didn't offend you" he said, averting his gaze.

************************************************************************

End Chap 28.

  


Okay pplz. Chapter 30 is gonna be good… all this crappiness is building up to it, so bare one more chapter w/ me, alright?

************************************************************************

  


  


  


  


  


  


  



	30. Chapter 29: Fisherman's Horizon

**Chapter 29**

**Fisherman's Horizon**

  


Squall gazed out onto FH. He wasn't sure exactly where the mayor's house was located. The hut in the center of the solar panel looked like a good possibility… but it was so small.

  


_"We might as well look around…"_ he thought.

  


Squall led Rinoa and Zell past the solar panels. He decided to look elsewhere for now.

  


The walkway underneath of them was a set of railroad tracks, long out of use. It circled its way down and around the solar banks, so that they formed a large cylindrical structure supporting the solar panels.

  


Zell kept his eyes fixed on the top of the cylinder. He scratched his head, wondering how they had put it all together. As the three passed a shop on the left, Zell bumped into one of the citizens of FH… a young girl in a black dress.

  


"Oh, s'cuse me" she exclaimed in shock. Zell blushed and began to apologize.

  


The girl merely shook her head.

  


"No.." she said, not wanting him to be so concerned. "You didn't scare me. You just surprised me."

  


Zell smirked nervously and she winked at him. The girl turned around and started off again.

  


_"…Wow… she sure was nice…"_ Zell thought. _"I wonder if everybody here is like that…"_

  


Squall rolled his eyes at the situation, but continued on. Suddenly, a very loud and obnoxious voice boomed out.

  


"…I told ja. I AIN"T DRUNK!" A man sat outside of a shop with a bottle of rum in his hand. He was slumped over, his right arm laid sluggishly as his side, and mangy looking besides.

  


"AHH (hic) I'm through makin' my own booze. I'll take what people (hic) …give me."

  


Squall, Zell and Rinoa cautiously avoided making any kind of eye contact with him. They didn't want to ignite an altercation with anyone… Especially since the workmen had been so vehement about 'not tolerating belligerence'. Besides… the man looked peculiarly familiar…

  


The walkway veered off onto a small dock where a boatman was stationed, tying his boat to the pier. He observed the three newcomers closely, and as Squall came closer to his boat, he suddenly began talking with him.

  


"Say…" he called at them. "the master of Balamb Garden is NORG right? Did he evolve already?" the boatman asked inquisitively.

  


Squall eyed the man curiously, wondering how he knew about NORG… And why he was being so nosy about Garden affairs.

  


"What are you talking about?" he replied.

  


" NORG." The boatman said. "He's a Shumi, so he should evolve."

  


Squall shook his head. Now the man had lost him.

  


"Shumi…?" Squall uttered, clue-less.

  


The boatman looked at Squall with a surprised disgust.

  


"What?! You don't know diddly-squat, do you?" he said.

  


Squall frowned and turned away.

  


"Ah… don't worry about it" the boatman said. "You'll start gettin' it soon."

  


_"What is that supposed to mean…?"_ thought Squall.

  


The boatman sighed, turned away from Squall, and began mumbling to himself.

  


"I wonder what NORGs gonna evolve into? It's a little scary thinking about it…"

  


Squall huffed, already beginning to become annoyed my FH's citizens, and continued pacing through the small town. They walked quite a distance before Squall decided to turn back.

  


"I think we should check out the town-center… That's probably where the mayor's house is" Squall said. Rinoa and Zell nodded in agreement, and followed him back to the top of the solar banks.

************************************************************************

  


Squall once again approached the top of the Solar paneling. There appeared to be a metal walkway which led straight down into the center of the giant glass structure.

  


A man in green vest was leaning upon the edge, gazing at the sight. He noticed the three teenagers beside him, all looking somewhat lost.

  


"There's the mayor's house. You see it?" he pointed out.

  


Squall nodded appreciatively, and started down the walkway.

  


_"I thought so…"_ Squall said to himself.

  


After walking down the hundred or so feet radius of the solar panels, the three approached a large, circular platform, on top of which resided the mayors house. The metal stairs leading up to it were rusty, but stable. 

  


Squall was about to walk into the large shanty that the mayor apparently resided in, but he noticed someone sitting along the edge of the platform; A middle aged man in a blue overcoat. He seemed familiar. Squall approached him curiously from behind.

  


_"Is that… Martine!? Galbadia Garden's Headmaster? What is he doing HERE?!"_

  


Zell took note of this as well.

  


"Yo! Squall!" he said loudly. "Isn't that…uh… Martine?!"

  


At this Martine turned his head back, and noticed the three. Squall grimaced slightly, but everyone remained quiet. Martine turned his head back to it's previous position, glaring down at the glowing panels beneath him. He started talking, but Squall wasn't sure if he was speaking to them, or to himself…

  


"A lot has happened since then." he said, memories of mere weeks past entering his mind at the sight of these SeeD members. 

  


"Banished from Galbadia garden… Everything I built up, gone." Martine sighed heavily.

  


  


"After wandering around mindlessly…" he started again, choking back a sob. "The people of this town welcomed me with open arms. The townspeople encouraged me to start over. Very kind, even towards a man like me who has nothing."

  


Martine's voice shook as he released his emotions.

  


"I… I'm so ashamed!!!" 

  


Martine pushed his face deep into his hands. He then ran them over his face, and through his light, thin hair, as he sniffled loudly.

  


Squall, Rinoa, and Zell moved away from him slowly. Leaving this dispirited man to wallow in his own self pity.

************************************************************************

  


Entering the mayors house warily, Squall began wondering about FH. For a an isolated harbor like this one, the people certainly seemed paranoid.

  


_"Why did they feel the need to tell us not to 'engage in armed conflict'…? Is that a problem here?"_ he thought. _"I wouldn't think so …I suppose we can ask the mayor…"_

  


The first room of the house seemed small, and unassuming… and also a mess. Construction material was sprawled out over the floor messily, along with chalkboards, tools and other assorted items. There appeared to be no one there, but a flight of circular stairs led to an upstairs room.

  


As they approached the top, the gentle sound of a wind instrument floated through their ears. Squall looked up to see a large glass ceiling, littered with model airplanes, and decorative plants. This room was substantially cleaner, and much more appealing than the bottom floor. The soft music was coming from the center of the room, being played by a older gentleman in a flower print shirt and khaki shorts.

  


The man noticed the three and put down his large flute-like instrument.

  


"Please have a seat" he said. The man was sitting, cross-legged, on the floor, next to a middle aged blond woman, who smiled and sighed contentedly. This was the leader of FH, Mayor Dobe.

  


Squall, Zell and Rinoa all sat down on the floor, in front of the mayor.

  


"Allow me to get to the point. When are you leaving?" he asked abruptly, gazing at them audaciously.

  


_"He's not wasting any time"_ Squall thought, somewhat offended.

  


" …We'll leave as soon as the Garden is capable of moving" he replied.

  


"Any idea when?" the mayor asked. He sounded impatient.

  


"I'm afraid not" Squall informed him. "We only discovered that our Garden is mobile a short while ago. Therefore, we don't even know how to move it. we're still in the process of understanding everything."

  


The mayor thought for a moment, and sighed.

  


"Our technicians will assist you. They should be able to repair and service everything. How does that sound?"

  


_"That means we'll have to let outsiders into Garden"_ Squall thought. _"I can't make this decision alone."_

  


The mayor looked at him questioningly for a moment. 

  


"Go consult with your leader if you don't have the authority" he said abruptly.

  


The room was silent for a moment, as Squall considered his options. He stood, and placed his hand on his chin. Suddenly, Rinoa, still sitting, pushed her hand forward.

  


"S'cuse me," she said, addressing the mayor curiously, "why do you want us to leave so bad?"

  


Squall grew immensely irritated.

  


_"Please just keep your mouth shut!"_ he thought. _"They must have their reasons. Who cares?"_

  


The mayor smirked slightly at this. He shifted into a more comfortable position. 

  


"We don't want any military organizations in FH. You rely on force to solve problems. That is in direct defiance of our principles."

  


The mayor of FH, Stuary Dobe II, was a strict pacifist. In fact, he'd made certain that the entire village would become a haven for those seeking political asylum from the more harsh, war-prone areas of the world. Violence was unwarranted at all times as far as the denizens of FH were considered, and very unwelcome.

  


The mayors wife, Flo, sitting next to him, concurred.

  


"We believe that any problem can be settled by discussion. If you reach a mutual understanding, there is no need to fight."

  


Rinoa nodded, seeming to understand. But Squall merely sighed at this.

  


_"No argument there. Trite and dull as hell though."_

  


Mayor Dobe continued in a somewhat pugnacious tone.

  


"Violence only leads to more violence. We believe your presence here will attract violence. That's why we want you to leave as soon as possible."

  


Squall became impatient with this talk. Not only was it boring, but he found Mayor Dobe's attitude towards them offensive. Squall turned his back to the mayor and his wife abruptly.

  


"Let's go back to garden" he ordered. He motioned for Zell and Rinoa to follow him immediately.

************************************************************************

  


"Man, that geezer pissed me off!" Zell cried as they walked slowly back up the metal walkway. "Squall, why didn't you tell him off!?"

  


Squall just shrugged at Zell's surprisingly intense response, and kept walking. But Zell was furious. He stomped his foot on the ground, as if demanding as answer. He'd kept his mouth shut inside the mayor's house, but he couldn't bare to be quiet now. 

  


_"How can that… that JERK, think that we're gonna cause trouble here… He doesn't even know us!"_ Zell thought.

  


Squall looked back and noted Zell's expression; He was merely standing there, gritting his teeth and shaking his fist angrily.

  


"Forget it" Squall said finally. "You can't expect everyone to welcome us."

  


Even Zell had to acknowledge this. They were, after all, soldiers. But Zell didn't like the Mayor's attitude. He still dwelled on the conversation.

  


_"He acts like we're just… just… hostile warmongers or something, man…"_ Zell thought. He sighed and ran ahead, trying to catch up with Squall and Rinoa.

  


As they continued up the solar paneling, all with somber expressions on their faces, Squall heard some commotion up above. Someone came barreling down from the top, nearly tumbling over them as he got closer. The man seemed in a panic. 

  


"G… G…G…G …Galbadian soldiers!' he stuttered, stumbling over them.

************************************************************************

  


Squall approached the top of the solar panels with caution.

  


_"They tracked us here, huh?"_ Squall thought._"…Dammit."_

  


Suddenly, he heard a voice cry out after them 

  


"Wait!"

  


Someone came running up to them from below. It was the mayor's wife. She came up and pointed her finger at them angrily. She yelled at them in an angry voice, between breaths.

  


"The Galbadians are here because of you, right? They're after you" she said.

  


Squall stood silent. _"Maybe"_ he thought.

  


"You'd better take full responsibility! It's your fault!" Flo cried out accusingly. She sounded unreasonable, and frightened.

  


_"Fine, we'll take care of them"_ Squall thought, nodding to Flo. _"I don't like the sound of her tone though."_

  


"We mustn't rely on them. They won't be able to do anything without fighting" a voice behind Flo said.

  


Mayor Dobe came up to them slowly, following his wife. He grazed past Squall and turned to Flo.

  


_"Don't tell me he's going to try and reason with them"_ Squall thought.

  


Mayor Dobe sighed heavily.

  


"I'll go talk to them" he said.

  


_"…he's dead"_ Squall thought, putting his hand on his forehead.

  


Mayor Dobe walked away from them. In the direction of the Galbadians. He was determined not to let this erupt into a war-zone.

  


Squall folded his arms, trying to decide what should be done. If they went and fought the Galbadian like he knew they should, Mayor Dobe might retract his offer to help fix the Garden. But if they didn't, there would be no telling what Galbadia would do, especially now that they were under the influence of Edea.

  


"Squall… should we go with him?" Zell asked. nervously

  


"He might get hurt…" Rinoa insisted.

  


Squall nodded. If they were going to get out of here, the Galbadian's were gonna have to leave first. And they sure wouldn't leave because of Mayor Dobe's 'non-aggressive' policies.

  


They walked down, along the same path they had followed earlier. Squall looked around fervently, trying to figure out where the mayor had gone.

  


The girl in the black dress who had bumped into Zell earlier, noticed them again. She approached Squall.

  


"I saw the mayor walking toward the station alone. Did you guys have anything to do with it?" she asked. 

  


Squall nodded.

  


"Where is the station?" he asked.

  


The girl eyed him curiously.

  


"Just keep going straight and you'll run into it."

  


Squall ran past her, towards the station. Zell nodded to her in appreciation as they ran by. The girl simply gazed at them suspiciously.

************************************************************************

  


Squall, Zell and Rinoa approached a turn-around, which encompassed a paved circle, leading up the station. In the middle, Squall saw Mayor Dobe conversing with a Galbadian official, decked in red. The three teenagers squatted down against the tracks, in front of an old mechanic's shop to avoid detection.

  


_"There he is"_ Squall thought.

  


"(It kills me to help that old fart)" Zell whispered, glaring in Mayor Dobe's direction.

  


_"Why are they wasting their time with the old man if they're after us and our Garden?" _Squall thought._ "…I wonder what they're talking about."_

  


Squall listened carefully.

  


" I already told you… I've never heard of this girl Ellone" Mayor Dobe said, trying to be calm. "There is nobody here by that name."

  


_"Ellone?"_ Squall thought.

  


The soldier merely laughed.

  


"Fine. We'll just have to torch this city" he said.

  


Mayor Dobe's eyes widened in desperation.

  


"Wait a minute!" he cried. "I'm telling the truth! I've never seen this girl!"

  


The soldier laughed even harder now.

  


"It doesn't matter, old man" he grunted. "We're gonna burn this place anyway. Edea's orders."

  


The soldier chuckled as Mayor Dobe dropped to his knees.

  


"No please! I beg of you! Don't!"

  


The soldier looked down at the mayor with disgust.

  


"I'll start with you" he said, grinning wickedly underneath his silver helmet.

  


The soldier reached down and began throttling Mayor Dobe by his throat.

_"Maybe we'd better go now…" _Squall thought. It looked like Mayor Dobe definitely needed their help at this point. _"…but why is Edea looking for Ellone? We'd better listen a little longer…"_

  


Zell glared down at squall.

  


"Squall!" he cried.

  


" What are you waiting for!?" Rinoa whispered angrily.

  


Squall paused. _"What am I thinking?"_

  


Squall kicked himself up, and leaped down to the stone circle beneath. The soldier dropped the mayor as the three teenagers approached him.

  


"Who the hell are you?" he chided with disdain.

  


"We're Seeds." Squall informed him abruptly.

  


The Soldier took a nervous step back at this. He turned around and yelled.

  


"Seeds! Get the Iron clad over here!"

  


Squall bent down to Mayor Dobe, who was lying limp and exhausted on the ground.

  


"I'm sorry but we have no choice" Squall said. The mayor lay face first on the ground, shaking his head.

  


"Squall!" Rinoa cried out. 

  


Suddenly, two Galbadian soldiers ran at them from behind, and began attacking. Zell ducked quickly as the first ran at him, and reached his fist up to grab the soldier's collar. Zell then flipped the soldier above his head, and onto the ground, finishing the maneuver with a rather blunt kick to his victim's stomach.

  


Squall, in an instinctual response, began summoning a GF. Shiva, the ice queen, appeared quickly, and broke through her bed of ice. 

  


As the GF took note of the weakness of her opponent, she frowned with disdain, and glared back at her summoner. Shiva began to shake her head. As she did, Squall heard an indescribable voice echo inside his mind.

  


_"Your Guardians are not playthings. You would do well to remember this, child."_

  


The Galbadian fell to the ground in fear, glaring in horror and wonder at the being that had just appeared. He attempted to escape, but Shiva had already begun to thrust her slender arms forward, creating huge ice crystals which surrounded the soldier. 

  


With a final sweep of her arms, Shiva dematerialized, and disappeared into the air.

  


Zell and Rinoa relaxed as the battle came to an end, Squall however, remained unnerved.

  


_"What was THAT?!"_ Squall thought to himself. _"Did I imagine it? …I've never heard of GFs actually… SPEAKING to their summoners… I didn't even know that they could communicate with us… Can they?"_

  


Squall had no time to dwell on this. He came to attention as Rinoa cried out.

  


"Something's coming!" She said. A loud rumble could be heard coming from a distance. A large machine could be seen rolling along the train tracks, coming from behind the train station. The machine turned however, and somehow propelled itself up, and came smashing down onto the town square.

  


"We got a big one on our hands!" Zell cried out.

  


"Let's destroy that thing!" Squall said excitedly.

  


The odd machine was intimidating, and large. It was some kind of tank with six pier's coming out of it, except that they were nearly all broken. The machine was certainly big, but it looked as if it had undergone a lot of damage.

  


Squall was tempted to summon Shiva, or another GF, but he looked at the rickety, broken tank, and thought better of it. He decided to simply attack it as well as he could by junctioning Thundaga magic, which he'd drawn from a monster in the training center earlier.

  


Rinoa and Zell joined in as well. The machine hummed and buzzed loudly as they each attacked it, casting magic, or merely ripping it apart as best they could. It appeared to be warming up for some kind of attack.

  


The tank finally did proceed with it's assault, however it was so noisy that Squall and the other two heard it coming and got out of then way. The tank extended a small device forward, which began rotating and shooting at them.

  


Finally, Squall released all his energy on the machine in a flurry of strength. He sliced into it again, and again with his gunblade.

  


As he backed away, panting. Rinoa cast one last thunder spell on the tank. At that, it began to burst into flames, and roll backwards. Zell, Squall, and Rinoa all watched as it drove itself down, and into the ocean.

  


The three breathed easily, surprised that the Galbadian's would attack them with something that big that was so… crappy.

  


But a quiet sound caught Squall's attention. He thought that he heard voices, and footsteps approaching from beneath the square's platform, right where's the tank had sunk. He approached the edge cautiously, wondering what, or who, was beneath…

  


Before he could, however, three familiar figures appeared from the edge. A young woman decked in a pale pink outfit and blond hair came up, followed by a man in a long , leather coat and cowboy hat, and another young girl wearing a yellow overall-skirt.

  


Squall's jaw dropped as the three teenagers climbed up, brushing themselves off. His eyes went wide with delight at the sight of his team members.

  


Selphie looked up, and saw Squall gazing at them. She smiled widely and waved.

  


"Squall!!!" she cried out.

  


Quistis and Irvine looked up as well, and all five Garden students present saluted each other with respect.

  


Squall was elated. He hadn't let on, but he had become uncommonly worried about Selphie, Quistis and Irvine. he thought happily to himself,_ "Yes! They're alright!"_

  


Squall gave a genuine, warmhearted smile.

  


"Hey Selphie" he said. "Quistis, Irvine. It's great to see you guys."

  


Irvine smiled as well, but the look on his face changed to one of worry as he suddenly remembered that they'd failed to stop the Galbadian missiles.

  


"Say, what happened to the Garden?" he asked, concerned.

  


Squall thought about his question. It didn't seem like it could be answered fully in just a few sentences.

  


_"A lot has happened…"_ he thought.

  


" The Garden is safe." Squall replied, not knowing how else to put it.

  


Selphie grinned ear-to-ear.

  


"Really!!? Whoo-hoo!!!" she yelled. Selphie waved her arms up and down excitedly.

  


Squall took a good look at them. They'd obviously just come from the inside of that Galbadian machine, and their clothes looked sooty and worn out. Not to mention their faces.

  


"What happened to you guys?" Squall asked.

  


Zell butted in at this.

  


"Yo, let's talk about that later" he said, figuring that they would have about as much to explain to Squall and he would to them. He didn't want to stand here and listen to a whole story… he was getting tired.

  


_"I guess"_ Squall thought, disappointed, but acknowledging Zell's hint.

  


Squall looked back to Zell and Rinoa, and then again at Quistis, Selphie and Irvine.

  


"Zell, Rinoa," he said. "why don't you guys take them back to Garden? I'll see you guys later, after I take a look around."

  


Everyone nodded, and complied with Squall's request. Zell led Irvine, Quistis, and Selphie back to where the Garden was docked.

  


"You guys are NOT gonna believe what happened, baby…" Zell said as they walked along. "wait'll you see Garden…"

  


Squall closed his eyes, deep in thought. He was trying to process everything that had happened within the last hour or so, and contemplating what to do next. He opened his eyes once again, expecting to be alone, but someone had stayed behind… Rinoa. Squall turned around and was surprised that she was still standing there, watching him.

  


"You know," Rinoa began. "you just surprised me. You looked and sounded so happy to see them."

  


_"Huh?"_ Squall thought. He didn't understand what she was trying to say.

  


Rinoa saw his perplexed look ,and tried to explain.

  


"It was the first time I've seen you so honest" she said kindly. "It was… really sweet."

  


_"Well… umm…"_ Squall thought, now realizing what she meant. He became embarrassed now, as he'd been caught letting his emotions get the better of him.

  


_"…I… I guess I really was happy to see them…"_ he thought. However, as he realized this, Squall became indignant. He looked up at Rinoa with narrowed eyes. _"I WAS really glad to see them"_ he thought. _"There's nothing wrong with that…"_

  


"I was just happy to see that they were alright. What's so surprising about that? Is there something wrong?" Squall asked, somewhat insulted.

  


Rinoa placed her palm over her chest defensively.

  


"No!" she cried. "There's nothing wrong! They're your comrades, but moreover, they're your friends" she said. She didn't mean to insult Squall… She just thought that it was nice that he was showing so much… feeling.

  


_"'Friends' huh…?"_ Squall thought. He tossed the word around in his mind curiously, as if he'd never heard it before. He wasn't sure if he accepted her statement or not…

  


Rinoa smiled at him slightly. Then, her eyes widened as a thought came to her.

  


"Hey, Squall, would you have been worried about me, too? Y'know, if I were with them instead?" she said.

  


Squall was completely unprepared for this. He blushed furiously.

  


_"What? Why is she asking me this? I don't know" _he thought.

  


She stood there, gazing at him knowingly. Squall looked down at the ground.

  


"I….ahhh…I don't know. Umm… maybe… I don't know" he answered quickly.

  


Rinoa squinted as she noticed the pigment of his skin change drastically.

  


"Oh my gosh!" she cried out, startling him. She squinted to get a better look. "You're turning red!"

  


_"What…? No I'm not"_ Squall thought, feeling his cheek with his palm… It was hot to the touch.

  


Rinoa giggled uncontrollably.

  


"You're so cute! Taking it so seriously!"

  


Squall was somewhat hurt at this, but he acted as if he was angry.

  


_"The heck!? Why is she toying with me?" _he thought, glaring at the giddy young woman before him.

  


Rinoa stopped laughing and winked at him playfully.

  


"Catch you later Squall!" she said cheerily. She waved to him, and ran off to join the others at Garden.

  


Squall just shook his head, and turned around. He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. As he did so, Squall noticed a slumped over figure in the middle of the town-square. The man sat, his flower-print shirt rumpled, and his head hung low. Mayor Dobe sighed heavily as Squall approached him.

  


"I guess you saved my life" the mayor said. his voice sounded upset, and somewhat confused.

  


Squall felt badly. He'd fully intended to abide by the regulations of FH, but he couldn't possibly let the group of soldier's which has seemed to retreat for the time being, destroy the town.

  


"Sorry for butting in" Squall apologized.

  


Mayor Dobe looked up, and faked a smile.

  


"No..." he said. But he added , "But I'm not thanking you."

  


Squall shook his head. 

  


"You don't have to. It's just that…" Squall stopped himself, unsure of what he was supposed to say. It was an impossibly convoluted situation. Squall had just fought for a man who was strictly against fighting, and now what? Should he be sorry? Should Mayor Dobe be thankful to Squall, for violating his policies? Squall put his hand to his forehead.

  


_ "Just what?"_ he thought. _"What am I trying to say?"_ Squall frowned as he searched for the words to back his feelings.

  


_"I guess… I want him to understand us" _he said to himself. Squall then voiced his thoughts.

  


"I wish you could be a little more understanding about us. We're not just a bunch of warmongers" he stated.

  


Mayor Dobe looked up at Squall from his place on the ground, eyeing him inquisitively.

  


"Oh?" he said plainly.

  


Squall paused once again, still unsure of what exactly he wanted to tell the mayor.

  


_"I don't know what more to say… I'll try…"_ he thought.

  


"It's hard for me to explain…" Squall told him. "I wish… everything could be settled without resorting to violence… And there would be no need for battles" Squall felt more comfortable with his thoughts now. He seemed to have a better grasp of what exactly he wanted to say.

  


"Like you've been preaching," he started again, "it would be wonderful if things could be settled by discussions. The only problem is that it often takes too much time. Especially if the others are not willing to listen" Squall sighed sadly at this inescapable truth. 

  


"So I believe that fighting is inevitable at times. It's really sad" Squall said. Mayor Dobe listened intently to Squall's words, but could not seem to look at him any further. Squall hoped for a response, but nothing came. He decided to end it.

  


"That's all I have to say. I hope you understand someday" Squall said. He turned to walk back to Garden, but Squall felt the need to add one last statement.

  


"I think the world need both people like you and people like us. Thank you for all your help. Good bye."

  


With that, Squall walked off, leaving the mayor to his thoughts. He made his way back to Garden , pacing through the tracks of FH slowly.

************************************************************************

  


On his way back up to the Garden's deck, Squall passed by several of the workmen he'd met with upon his arrival to FH. He was walking to the inclinator leading to the rigging that Garden had crashed into, when a familiar face addressed him.

  


"So, you did fight after all…" the man said. The sound of his words drove deep into Squall's heart, not because the man was angry… but because he sounded disappointed, as if he'd expected 'better' of Squall somehow. But squall merely shot a nervous glance to the man, and quickly turned his head away, making his way quickly to the inclinator.

  


Riding up, Squall thought he heard someone's voice on the metal walk above. As he dismounted the platform, he saw Irvine Kinneas leaning up against the wall.

  


"The headmaster gave the ok to let the technicians in the Garden. They're in there right now" Irvine informed him

  


Squall nodded, happy to have his thoughts diverted.

  


"Ok" he replied. Squall walked past Irvine, ready to go back to his dorm and rest, but Irvine had other plans.

  


"Say…" he began.

  


Squall answered curtly. "Yeah?"

  


a but nervous, Irvine responded, "Uhh… I was wondering. Those technicians seem very handy. So like… would it be alright if I asked them to fix some other stuff?"

  


Squall frowned and squinted his eyes. What did he care? 

  


"As long as it doesn't slow down the work on the Garden, go ahead" Squall replied, shrugging. "Try not to ask for too much."

  


Irvine shrugged his shoulder's in his usual, cocky manner. 

  


"Yeah, of course" he replied.

  


At this, Squall turned and began making his way to the Garden once again. Irvine followed him, and after reaching the large crane which had been positioned onto the 2nd floor deck, Irvine began to say something, but Squall cut him off

  


"What?"

  


Irvine scratched the back of his head, and twisted his mouth somewhat nervously.

  


"Selphie's feeling down right now" he said. "I thought I would let you know, since you're… kind of like everybody's leader."

  


Squall placed his hand on his hip, impatiently.

  


_"…That's IT?"_ he thought.

  


"I think you should go talk to her" Irvine said, a bit more confidently now. "I know you're a klutz when it comes to these things, so I'll back you."

  


Squall thought a moment. He had been worried about them, Selphie in-particular. As odd as it was for him, Squall did feel concerned about how she was feeling.

  


"Where is she?" he asked.

  


Irvine replied quickly

  


"She's hanging out at the stage by the quad."

  


Squall nodded, and started once more towards Garden. Irvine gazed about at the tools and industrial instrument's all rigged onto Garden's frame.

  


" Wow" he exclaimed. "I didn't expect all this heavy machinery."

  


Squall rolled his eyes.

  


"How else are they going to repair it? With hammers and nails?" he said sarcastically.

  


Irvine put up his hands in defense. 

  


"Hey, hey, hey, this isn't my department" he said placidly.

  


Squall folded his arms.

  


"Then what is?" he asked abruptly.

  


Irvine smiled, sure of himself.

  


"…Guns and women, of course" he replied.

  


Squall sighed, irritated, and ignored the comment.

************************************************************************

  


Inside the Garden's quad, Selphie Tilmett gazed at the once impressive sight of the Garden festival stage, now in utter ruin. Pieces of steel equipment, lay broken and crumbled, crushing the wooden planks of the stage. The equipment was smashed, and most of the tools that had been left on the scaffolding was either lost or broken beyond repair…

  


The stage… the Garden festival… Selphie's dreams… All crushed in one fell swoop. Selphie stood in front of the spectacle, nearly in tears.

  


She heard foot steps approaching faintly in the distance, but paid them little heed. She sniffled and wiped her wet eyes as she realized that someone was coming. She looked back to see Squall and Irvine approaching the shambled stage slowly.

  


" Whew…" Selphie expressed sadly, "this is so bad."

  


Squall looked at the sprawled material's, impressed at the size of such a mess.

  


"Yeah" he lamented. "It's been crazy, with the Garden moving and crashing into FH. A lot happened."

  


Selphie sighed heavily, disappointed beyond anything she could've imagined.

  


"Y'know, I really wanted to see a band perform on this stage" she agonized. "I even had my eyes set on a few people, too." Selphie squatted down in front of the stage, and tossed a piece of wood into the rubble.

  


"Oh well…"

  


Squall gazed at her, arms folded.

  


_"Man. She's really down"_ he thought. _"What should I say…?"_

  


" Come on" Squall encouraged, surprisingly. "I'm sure you can still do something."

  


Selphie wrinkled her nose and smirked oddly.

  


"…Squall… being sensitive?" she said. "That's weird. You're the last person I expected to cheer me up." 

  


Selphie turned her face up to Squall's, revealing a saddened expression.

  


"I must really look depressed" she moaned.

  


Squall blushed and turned his back quickly. He walked away from Selphie, folding his arms.

  


_"What's so weird?"_ he thought. _"I care just like everybody else. It's just that there are too many things that can't be helped. So why bother talking about everything?"_

  


Selphie stood up and gazed at him a moment. 

  


_"what is he doing?"_ she wondered. _"…Oh no… he's all moody now… I wasn't trying to hurt his feelings…"_

  


"Uh-oh!" Selphie cried. "There you go again into your own little world. And you're not gonna share anything, huh?" she asked.

  


"…yeah, whatever…" Squall replied apathetically, still not facing her.

  


_"Why is she teasing me?"_ he thought. _"I was just trying to help."_

  


Selphie put her hands on her hips and smiled.

  


"Well, I think I'm feeling better" she said cheerfully. "Don't worry about me, Squall."

  


Squall was still embarrassed however. He turned around, only to walk past her.

  


"Irvine… you help her" he said. "I'm out of here."

  


Irvine tipped his hat.

  


"Alrighty" he replied.

  


Squall began walking away from them, and just as he did so, the Garden's Public Address system came on, ringing the familiar introductory melody. Headmaster Cid's voice came in clearly through the speakers.

  


"Squall, this is the headmaster speaking. Please come to my office."

  


Squall became irritated. He wanted to go to his room and just sleep.

  


_"What now?"_ he thought. Squall shook his head, and continued out of the quad, to deal with yet another interruption. After he left, Selphie and Irvine examined the remains of the stage a bit further.

  


Selphie sighed, trying to cheer up.

  


"I guess there's no point in feeling blue" she said.

  


Irvine spoke up happily, wanting Selphie to feel better.

  


"That's right. Let's get the fun started!" he exclaimed.

  


Selphie eyed him suspiciously. What was he up to now?

  


"Fun? What fun?" she asked.

  


_"I'm so brilliant"_ Irvine thought to himself. He'd contrived a, self proclaimed, 'great' plan for Selphie's festival.

  


" So like… first, we'll ask the FH technicians if they can fix the stage" Irvine started. "If they can fix the Garden, this should be a piece of cake for them."

  


Selphie's eyes widened with anticipation, but she remained wary.

  


"Hmm… Do you think they'll do it?" she asked, hopeful.

  


"Don't worry" Irvine replied. "I'll back you. I'm sure they'll do it."

  


Selphie lowered her eyes, thinking to herself. As she processed the information, a wonderful thought came to her.

  


"Hey. That means…!" she cried.

  


"Yup, you can have your band perform on the stage" Irvine inserted, grinning happily.

  


Selphie could hardly contain her joy.

  


"Whoo-hoo! Alright! Let's get this show on the road!" she said, throwing her arms up in excitement.

  


Irvine gazed at her mischievously.

  


_"Score, baby!"_ he thought. _"I'm all set to make my move…"_

************************************************************************

  


The headmaster's office was quiet, but for the voices of two people, and the faint echoes of machinery from the outside. Atop the control platform, Squall and headmaster Cid were engaged in conversation.

  


" …That abut covers my report, sir" Squall said, completing his summary of the event's that had developed in FH.

  


" I see …" the headmaster replied. He nodded, making sure to take careful mental noted. Cid also remembered that Selphie, too, had reported to him.

  


"….. I also heard a report from Selphie just a moment ago." Cid informed Squall. "She said the online diary is open to everyone to see. Maybe you should have a look... I'm sure you can read about what happened at the missile base." The headmaster removed his classes and wiped them with his sleeve. 

  


" …Also," he added, "I'll make sure that Xu knows that Quistis is back… She's been awfully worried about her."

  


Squall nodded, but remembered one more detail about his report.

  


"Oh, and one more thing…" he said. "It appeared that the Galbadians were searching for Ellone. That seemed to be their main objective in FH." 

  


Squall folded his arms, and stiffened his voice.

  


"I believe that Sorceress Edea is behind all this" he said.

  


Cid's eyes widened at this, and he lowered his head. The information wasn't surprising, but it was disturbing nonetheless.

  


Squall thought to himself at this point, as well.

  


_"Ellone has the ability to allow people to experience the past. Maybe the sorceress is after her for this ability. What other reason could there be?"_

  


Cid sighed in frustration.

  


"So now the Galbadians are working for the sorceress, and were searching for Ellone in FH…" he stated.

  


Squall concurred.

  


"And regardless of whether they found her or not… they had orders to burn the city down." he said.

  


Cid smirked wryly.

  


"That would help reduce the number of potential places where she could hide" he said.

  


_" …that's right."_ Squall thought. _"Holy chocobos… What WON'T she do to find Ellone?"_

  


headmaster Cid continued.

  


"Most likely, the sorceress will not stop this onslaught until Ellone is found. She will continue to hunt her, and burn everything in her path. …We can't wait any longer."

  


Squall raised his eyebrows curiously.

  


_" …So he's finally going official. About time" _he thought.

  


Cid turned around, and pressed a button on the control panel. As he did, the PA melody started, and he began to speak.

  


" This is headmaster Cid" he stated. "I have an announcement to make. I have important news that I must share with all of you."

  


Throughout garden, student's and staff listened intently. No one could recall the headmaster acting so serious about something before. It seemed a bit unnerving, but exciting as well. 

  


"The garden is being repaired right now" Cid continued. "We'll leave FH immediately after it's finished. We're going on a journey."

  


Mumbles could be heard throughout the hallways. What did he mean? What kind of a journey? Cid explained shortly.

  


"…This is a journey to defeat the sorceress. Garden will now be used as a mobile base. The administration of Garden will be run by myself and the staff as usual." Cid cleared his throat. Preparing to state the following very clearly.

  


"This journey will involve many battles. A well-qualified leader is needed for this." Cid paused, and the tension around Garden built exponentially.

  


Cid continued in a proud voice.

  


"Therefore, I am appointing Squall Leonhart as your new leader. From now on, Squall WILL be the leader. He will decide our destination and battle plan."

  


Squall had never felt as close to fainting in his entire life as he did at that moment. The full impact of Cid's words didn't quite hit him until a few seconds after, but he certainly felt the jolting impression it left on his mind

  


_"Are you serious?!"_ Squall thought to himself. Cid looked back at him, smiling. He then turned back to the microphone.

  


"Everyone, please follow his orders" he said.

  


_"I can't believe this…"_ Squall thought. He began to sweat nervously. He could feel his hands starting to shake as Cid continued, even though his arms were folded tightly.

  


"If there are any objections, please come see me in person." Cid stated, ending the announcement.

  


_"I don't even have a choice?"_ Squall asked himself. He knew the answer of course, but he felt desperate for some kind of alternative.

  


Headmaster Cid turned the Public Address system off, and turned his attention to Squall.

  


"Squall, we're under your command from now on" he said plainly.

  


Squall slapped his forehead.

  


Cid frowned at his response.

  


"This is your fate" he explained sternly. "It is your destiny to lead the way in defeating the sorceress."

  


Squall raised his head, and stared Headmaster Cid right in the eye. He twisted his mouth angrily, and swept his arm back in a burst of fury.

  


"Don't talk about this like it's been decided since my birth!" he cried.

  


Before Cid could reply, Squall huffed loudly, and activated the platform's elevator. Upon reaching the floor of Cid's office, he stormed out as fast as he could, tossing the doors open and stomping his boots loudly.

  


_"I don't mind fighting the sorceress."_ Squall thought. _"It's unavoidable as long as I'm a SeeD member." _Squall mounted the Garden elevator, and slammed his fist on the 1st floor button. 

  


_"But I NEVER agreed to leading the ENTIRE garden…"_ he thought. He sighed heavily. 

  


_"I'll fight as long as I'm a SeeD, but…"_ He paused, taking his thoughts into careful consideration. _"What? As long as I' m a SeeD member? What if I quit?"_

  


He toyed with the idea. The resulting thoughts became disturbing. 

  


_"Quit… Then what? What do I have left?"_ he asked himself. He became afraid of what the answer might be.

  


_"Don't even want to think about it. Just stop thinking…" _he told himself.

************************************************************************

  


Roughly an hour later, Squall had partially come to terms with his assignment, by viewing it as just that… Another assignment… Another job. He lay in bed, easing his mind as best he could.

  


_"I'll just have to do as I was told…"_ he thought. _"Command the Garden and kill the sorceress."_

  


Squall narrowed his eyes, and sat up from his bed. There were still a lot of issues to think about, and Squall wasn't entirely sure that Cid had thought his decision through. He rested his head in his hands.

  


_"How does headmaster Cid expect me to take care of everyone?"_ he wondered indignantly. Squall merely rolled his eyes. 

  


_"It'd be best to go fight the sorceress soon, and end this nonsense"_ he thought. This seemed like a good idea. Get it over with as soon as possible, and get everything back to normal… back to the way that they used to be. But Squall was reminded of another disturbing fact, which threw any calmness he'd summoned up out the window.

  


_"The sorceress…"_ he thought. _"But isn't she the headmaster's wife!? He wants us to kill his wife!?"_ Squall felt as if the whole world had been turned upside down. He lay back down on his bed again, feeling a headache coming on.

  


_"What does it feel like to give an order like that?"_ he wondered.

************************************************************************

  


End Chap. 29

  


Ya-hoo. Excitement abounds as Squall takes control of Garden… somewhat begrudingly…

Well, the next chapter is kind of cute. I hope you will enjoy it… it should be a LOT shorter than this one… 

************************************************************************

  



	31. Chapter 30: The Concert

**Chapter 30**

**The Concert**

  


Irvine walked up onto the center platform of FH's solar panel with a spring in his step. He grinned eagerly as he saw everyone he'd asked to show up, sitting in anticipation for his and Selphie's announcement.

  


_"Zell, Quistis, Rinoa… and Selphie"_ he thought, smugly grinning.

  


Selphie stood in front of everyone, waiting for Irvine.

  


"Hey everyone" Irvine started. He motioned to the yellow-clad girl behind him. "Here's our producer, Selphie."

  


"Ahem!" Selphie cried, getting everyone's attention. "We'll be holdin' the concert as planned" she announced. By now, everyone had heard that the Quad had been ruined… but a rumor about the performance continuing had spread quickly throughout Garden… the stage tools lying about the platform served as a bit of a giveaway as well, but no one knew exactly what Selphie had in mind.

  


"The performance isn't just for us, though" Selphie explained. "It's also for Squall. Y'know, to congratulate him on his recent promotion."

  


Quistis smiled.

  


"Sounds fun" she said.

  


Zell raised his hand.

  


"So, who's gonna perform?" he asked innocently, wondering why they'd even been called there at all.

  


Irvine gestured toward everyone.

  


"We are" he replied.

  


Zell's jaw dropped at this. He glared at Irvine a moment, and shook his head, assuming, and hoping that he was be joking.

  


"Yeah right" Zell laughed nervously. Irvine merely shook his head.

  


Quistis put up her hands, and narrowed her eyes.

  


"You're kidding" she exclaimed, looking up at the young man with caution. Irvine smirked and shook his head again. 

  


"Oh, no way. You can count me out. I have no musical aptitude" Quistis asserted.

  


Rinoa giggled slightly.

  


"Oh really?" she said in a disbelieving voice. "I gotta see this."

  


Selphie pleaded with them, "Let's just give it a try. We have everything ready and all we need is four people!"

  


Rinoa spoke up, trying to encourage everyone

  


"This is gonna be fun!" 

  


Selphie looked over to Rinoa, and spoke apologetically.

  


"Oh, sorry Rinoa. But you're not gonna be a member" she explained.

  


Rinoa's cheerful expression changed to one of hurt. They weren't gonna let her join? Were they keeping her away because she wasn't a SeeD?

  


"You're leaving me out?" she asked sadly.

  


Selphie shook her head 'no'. She began to explain.

  


"Uh-uh. We have something more important for you to do."

  


Zell shook his head in exasperation he was still wondering how all of them were going to pull this off.

  


"So what are we gonna do?" he asked. "I mean basically, we're all amateurs, right? Even if you hand us instruments, we won't be able to come up with anything."

  


Every Garden student, SeeD ranked or no, was required to take a class in musical composition and performance, at a point to be decided upon by Garden staff. One of the extra classes Cid had implicated, with much duress given to NORG on the matter. However, since most underclassmen were dedicated to full-time schedules, students usually took these lessons late in their years at Garden.

  


But Zell was worried. He'd passed the class early last year, but just barely. Quistis seemed nervous as well, but Selphie didn't seem concerned in the least… but he knew that she could play the guitar.

  


"First I wanna ask you guys something" she said. "Ok, you know I took over this event after I transferred to Balamb, right? I have the composition that the last producer recommended to me, but everything got all messed up after the Garden started moving. There's supposed to be only 4 scores that go with the composition, but I got 8 scores here."

  


Zell was irritated that she was side stepping his question, but he sighed heavily and played along.

  


"So what does that mean?" he asked.

  


"It's pretty simple" Irvine butted in. "Four other scores… or the notes for each instrument… from a different composition got mixed up with the 4 scores that Selphie had. There were two songs stored together in a folder, and neither of them had titles on them. So we have to find the 4 original scores to perform the composition that Selphie has… Unless any of you can transcribe the notes quickly enough, the only way we're gonna find out which is which is to play all 8 scores and see."

  


Irvine smirked, eyeing Zell vainly. He laughed.

  


"I hope you guys still remember how to at least READ the music…" he said, suppressing a chuckle.

  


Zell glared at him and was about to give in to an angry retort, but Selphie interrupted him.

  


"So I want you guys to pick up an instrument, one person at a time, and play it. Irvine knows what the composition sounds like, so he'll choose which 4 are the right ones."

  


"Let's get started" Irvine commanded.

  


He turned around, and began bringing the instruments over one-by-one. Guitars, a Saxophone… He even rolled out a large Piano, and Cello.

  


Selphie eyed the instruments excitedly as she folded the papers in her hand, but Zell and Quistis merely grimaced…

************************************************************************

  


Squall Leonhart gazed out of his dorm window. From his room, he could just barely catch a glimpse of Fisherman's Horizon's solar panels. Mostly, the view just consisted of the ugly cranes and metal harnesses attached to Garden. The equipment was necessary, as the FH maintenance crew worked long and hard on the exterior damage that the now-mobile academy had undergone.

  


_"I wonder if Cid is having them explain how to steer the Garden, since they seemed familiar with it anyway…" _Squall thought. _"…Or is that MY job now, too?"_

  


He grumbled softly as his mind returned to the one thing he didn't want to think about right now. He sat down on his bed, and tried to focus on something else.

  


_"Man… these past few weeks have been WEIRD"_ he thought. Beyond the ensuing political struggle which Squall had unintentionally become a part of, so many odd things had happened…

  


_"These vision s that Ellone sends… are they actually images from the past? Are we really experiencing the past…?"_ Squall became anxious, and breathed heavily.

  


_"…Are we changing the past?"_ he wondered. That had been Ellone's goal, wasn't it? Squall wondered, too, about how Ellone seemed to know him… Even during their conversations, she seemed to be familiar with his personality somehow….

  


_"Who IS she…?"_ Squall wondered. The familiarity which had first piqued his curiosity about her was even stronger now. But he continually drew a blank as to any past knowledge of her.

  


_"…So.. familiar… and yet… I can't even remember ever meeting her…"_ he thought. A disturbing suggestion arose from the depths of his mind.

  


_"…Does this have anything to do with… My GFs?"_ he wondered. _"Are the rumors true? Do GFs… actually steal your memories? …If so… what else am I missing!?"_

  


Squall had used GFs ever since he first was introduced to the concept of controlling energy. The requirement of Guardian Forces for this activity brought on the obvious need for students to be able junction GFs. 

  


Shiva and Quezectol were the two GFs that had been used for Squall's initial GF training class. As the years progressed, the two GFs were permanently assigned to Squall, as their compatibility with him grew at an amazing rate. But even after that, Squall only junctioned them for short periods of time. Granted, every year at Garden meant more training with Para-Magic, and as a result, more time spent junctioned to the GFs along with more intense training sessions.

  


Squall realized however, that unlike his years spent in the classroom, he had been keeping GFs constantly junctioned for quite some time. As a matter of fact, Shiva had been permanently junctioned to him ever since he'd acquired Ifrit on the day of the SeeD field exam. He'd rotated the other guardian forces around with everyone fairly well… but everyone seemed to be paring off with at least one of the beings. Squall counted them off on his fingers.

  


_"Selphie had been using Ifrit constantly…" _Squall thought. _"Zell's been junctioned to the Brothers ever since we were in the Desert-District Prison… Quistis has used Quetzectol off and on… She's had him since we parted at the missile base… So she's had him for at least a week and a half…"_

  


"Whew" Squall breathed out nervously. So much as he could tell, everyone had been juncionted to their GFs nonstop for two weeks, minimum. His junction to Shiva had been even longer… bordering on a month now.

  


_"What Guardians have we accumulated?"_ Squall wondered. He tried hard to remember their names.

  


_"Shiva…Quezectol… Ifrit…I know we have at least three more."_ He thought. _"Lessee… Siren… Brothers…the one I had Irvine draw… Carbuncle… and…Leviathan, from NORG…" _

  


Squall counted seven altogether_. _

  


_"My God… there's so many."_ He thought, shaking his head. 

  


"There's probably no connection…" he thought. _"But something weird is going on…"_

  


Squall tried to think of something else for now. He focused on the sorceress.

  


_"The sorceress is Edea… We have to stop her… I wonder where she is."_ Squall thought. _"We'll have to search for her… but we'll have to do a lot first… We need to prepare. But… There's nothing we can do right now. Nothing."_

  


Squall sighed in frustration at the realization. He tried to think of something he could do, but until they left FH. Nothing could be done. His mind drifted back to the sorceress's connection to Ellone…

  


_"…I wish I could stop thinking about this."_ Squall thought. _"But Edea must need Ellone for something… it must have something to do with her ability…"_

  


Squall yawned loudly. He sat down on his bed, and his eyes closed slowly.

  


_"I don't want to think anymore… it's too much… too much…"_

  


He fell asleep, slowly.

************************************************************************

  


Out on the center platform of FH, Irvine, Zell ,Selphie, Quistis and Rinoa all stood in a circle. Everyone had decided on an instrument, and the song had been deciphered and played all the way through.

  


"Ok, we have until tonight to practice for the performance" Irvine said happily.

  


Selphie then winked at Rinoa

  


"Rinoa, that's when you're up."

  


Rinoa smiled excitedly

  


"You can count on me!"

  


Selphie raised her voice and cried out loudly.

  


"It's gonna be a blast!"

************************************************************************

  


Hours later, inside his dorm, Squall awoke. It was dark outside now. He shook himself awake, and paced about his room for a few moments. He lay back down on his bed, putting his hands behind his head.

  


_"…I'm bored…"_ he thought. _"What's everybody doing?"_

  


He hadn't heard from anyone since he'd spoke with Cid earlier. He found it odd that no one had come to him for anything… Rinoa hadn't even stopped by to annoy him. He couldn't quite place his finger on it, but something didn't seem right.

  


He excited his dorm slowly. As he approached the hallway, he heard water-crickets chirping loudly, a traditional evening sound in FH. He breathed in the cool night air carefully, but heard some commotion overriding the sound of his breath. He squinted his eyes, and noticed three figures in the darkness. He would've barely made them out, if not for the glowing lights lining the hall. He heard whispers that were barely audible.

  


"(here he comes)" one voice said.

  


"(okay, he's all yours)" another encouraged.

  


As Squall's eyes adjusted to the light, he saw Quistis and Zell run back into Garden quickly.

  


_"What are they doing…?" _Squall thought. He then noticed the other person, a young petite woman in a white dress… Squall cocked his eye curiously as Rinoa stood there waiting for him. He continued down the hall, and approached her carefully, but became wary as he saw her wink at him… he tried to pass by her without making eye contact.

  


"You're not going anywhere!" Rinoa cried out, stepping in front of him defiantly. 

  


Squall stopped, and folded his arms lazily.

  


Rinoa brushed back a strand of hair and smiled at him.

  


"So what's up?" she asked, innocently.

  


Squall thought for a moment.

  


_"…tired."_

  


Rinoa noticed his frown, and pouted

  


"You look so down…" she lamented. "Come on Squall, how old are you? You're still a teenager. Why don't you act like one for a change?"

  


_"Because they won't let me…"_ Squall thought. _"…I'm… just tired."_

  


Rinoa huffed somewhat impatiently. Squall wasn't responding and it was irritating her.

  


"Ok, come on" she finally said. "Let's go to the concert."

  


_"What?"_ Squall thought. _"What concert…"_

  


Squall's curiosity was piqued, but he realized how restless his sleep had been, and besides, he felt agitated… A concert was the last thing he wanted to attend.

  


He was about to say 'no, leave me alone', but Rinoa seemed genuinely interested in going… and getting him to go. Besides that, her arrival at the dorms seemed suspiciously planned. So he decided to let her down easily.

  


"Sorry. I'm not in the mood" he said

  


Rinoa tilted her head, disappointed.

  


"How come?" she asked softly.

  


Squall thought a moment. Was he really all that tired? Or was he merely so overwhelmed with his new position as leader over Garden, that he didn't want to do anything? He sighed in frustration

  


"I'd rather not talk about it" he replied abruptly.

  


Rinoa laughed… as if she'd expected that reply.

  


"…Quistis was right on…" Rinoa said, still chuckling. "Oh, you're so predictable."

  


Squall frowned and narrowed his eyes. He hated it when people said that about him. He turned around and was about ready to head back into his dorm. However, Rinoa stopped him, placing her hand on his shoulder.

  


"…Ok, I'm sorry. I can understand why you wouldn't be in the mood" she said in a softer, understanding tone. "You're probably still thinking about what the headmaster said today. He put a lot on your shoulders." She looked up at him compassionately.

  


"It all happened so fast. So we thought it'd be good for you to come and unwind a little. Plus I have something important that I want to talk to you about" she said.

  


"Who's we?" Squall replied suspiciously.

  


"Who else?" Rinoa said. "Quistis, Selphie, Zell, Irvine, and, of course, me."

  


Squall nodded, understanding. But once again tried to turn around and leave. Rinoa stopped him.

  


"Come on…" she pleaded. "Please, for me? There's no point if you don't show up." Rinoa gazed at him, her eyes wide. She but her bottom lip anxiously.

  


Squall gazed down at his feet for a moment, grimacing. He was torn… should he go? He didn't want to disappoint Rinoa… But he would feel so awkward at the concert, especially with her.

  


"I don't know" he thought. He looked at Rinoa, and then back to his dorm.

  


"Sorry," he sighed. "I just don't feel like it."

  


Rinoa put her hands behind her back, and gazed up innocently.

  


"Fine…" she said, mocking compliance. "I guess I'll have to bug you for the rest of the night."

  


Squall's eyes went wide at this. She wouldn't… would she?

  


"And I'm gonna keep chanting' concert, concert, concert' and drive you nuts" she explained. "Is that what you want?"

  


Squall put his hand to his forehead… of course she would. This was Rinoa who was talking to him.

  


"Oh man…" he lamented. Rinoa smiled happily at this.

  


" I'm getting to you already, huh? Looks like you have no choice!"

  


Squall looked up at her, and smirked. It amazed him, how much he's gotten used to her.. and even enjoyed her company. He was too embarrassed to admit it, though, and he still was irritated with her giddiness…

  


_"…All right… it's not such a big deal"_ he thought. _"…I was bored after all…"_

  


"Fine" he agreed. Rinoa clapped happily, and grabbed him by the arm, dragging him to the concert.

  


************************************************************************

  


Squall and Rinoa approached the top of FH's solar panel. Squall looked down and noticed large impressive stage had been built down near the mayor's house, and Garden student's lingered around FH, waiting for the performance to begin.

  


Irvine, who'd watched them approach, came up to Squall and smirked.

  


"So she convinced you, eh?"

  


Squall, merely shot him a glance, and turned his eyes away. But Irvine persisted. He placed his arm around Squall's shoulder, and pulled him aside.

"(Looking good together)" Irvine whispered, excitedly. Squall rolled his eyes.

  


"(So like…)" Irvine continued in a sly voice, "(I found this place. It's perfect for you guys.)"

  


_"Give me a break…"_ Squall thought. _"We're not on a date…"_

  


"(It's by the stage. You can't miss it. I left an old magazine there.)" Irvine explained. "(You can thank me later Have fun. Just let it all out tonight.)"

  


It took Squall a moment before realizing what Irvine's tone was implying. He glared at Irvine in disgust.

  


_"Oh man. This guy is sick" _he thought.

  


"Are you finished?" Squall asked impatiently.

  


Irvine winked knowingly.

  


"I might be there later with a special someone, too" he said, his eyes raising his eyebrows.

  


Irvine finally released Squall, and approached the stairwell. Selphie was standing there, observing the stage.

  


Irvine came at her from behind, looking like he was preparing something to say. However, Squall grew impatient, and poked Irvine in the back, wanting him to move so that he and Rinoa could go down. Irvine glared back at him angrily.

  


"Come on man, I'm about to make my move" he said.

  


Selphie's ears perked at this, and she turned around, eyeing Irvine suspiciously.

  


"What's up?" she asked cautiously. Irvine turned to her, flustered. It was all he could do to wink at her nervously.

  


Selphie cocked her eye at this, and took off down the stairs.

  


Squall laughed as Irvine mumbled angrily.

  


"Oh well…" he said, mocking sympathy.

  


"Geez… Thanks a lot!" Irvine muttered sarcastically. He ran down the stairway, following Selphie.

************************************************************************

  


Squall decided to remain on the upper level for a moment. He and Rinoa gazed down at the bright, colored lights of the stage. The speakers on each side were large… and the stage was built with an intricate pattern. Each instrument on a different level. 

  


_"…That looks… kinda cool"_ Squall thought. Suddenly, he saw Selphie, Zell, Quistis and Irvine all mount the stage, and gather instruments.

  


Squall squinted to make sure that he was seeing what he thought.

  


_"…Are THEY the band!?"_ he wondered. _"That's weird…"_

  


Rinoa saw that everyone was getting ready to play, so she rushed Squall down the stairs.

  


"Come on! They're about to start!" she cried.

  


Down below, Squall gazed up at the stage raising an eyebrow. This was going to be interesting. All the students and onlookers clapped as Selphie approached the microphone. She had a guitar placed around her shoulders, ready to play.

  


"Squall!" Selphie cried. "You big stud! This is for you! Congratulations!" 

  


Squall became thoroughly embarrassed. He blushed and averted his eyes.

  


"Enjoy the show!" Selphie continued. "Rinoa, don't let him get away!"

  


_"Whatever…"_ Squall thought with disdain.

  


Selphie lanced back toward the rest of the 'band', and raised her finger.

  


"Ready!? A-one, two, three…"

  


As she counted off the beat, the music began. With Selphie on the electric guitar, Irvine playing the piano, Zell on the saxophone, and Quistis playing a bass guitar, the group played a romantic slow dance, and actually performed quite well. Squall was impressed, but he still averted his gaze, embarrassed at Selphie's words to him.)

  


Squall and Rinoa stood, listening to the music for a moment. Rinoa smiled happily… the song was a favorite of hers. But soon, she wanted to speak with Squall, alone… She motioned for him to follow her. 

  


As they walked over to an isolated corner of the platform, Squall noticed a crumpled up magazine laying on the edge.

  


_"This looks like the place he was talking about."_ Squall thought.

  


Rinoa looked down, and giggled.

  


"Ohh, a naughty magazine" she said between laughs.

  


Squall slapped his forehead in annoyance.

  


_"I thought he was kidding"_

  


Squall looked around, and saw that they were alone. So he asked her; "You wanted to talk about something, right?"

  


Rinoa nodded, and they both took a seat on the edge of the platform. Rinoa remained silent for a moment, gathering her thoughts.

  


"What is it?" Squall asked.

  


Rinoa turned to him, and gave an unconvincing smile.

  


"Umm… well it's about your promotion" she began. "…Things are gonna get real tough for you, huh?"

  


Squall closed his eyes and breathed deeply.

  


_"I don't want to think about it"_ he thought. _"I've been thinking about it all day…"_

  


"Squall," she started again, "I'm sure there'll be a lot of difficult things that you'll have to deal with from now on. We were talking about that, and saying how you'll probably try to handle everything on your own."

  


Squall gazed down at the solar panels for a moment. He contemplated her words, and lifted his head, looking off into the distance.

  


_"I probably will"_ he thought, nodding.

  


Rinoa smiled at his agreement. Even though he wasn't speaking, he was at least responding.

  


"They know you too well" she continued. "I do, too, although I haven't been around you that long."

  


Squall frowned, and rested his head on his closed fist. It was true what she'd said… but it seemed like she'd been around him for a long time. But mainly, it bothered him that she seemed to think she knew him so well… that everyone did. They didn't know him… not really… or did he just not want them to? Squall sighed in frustration at his own feelings.

  


Rinoa gazed at him a moment, thinking about how she'd gotten to know him. She giggled a little, and imitated his irritated expression

  


"Y'know, when you start thinking, you tend to frown like this" she said. Squall ignored the comment for a moment, but once he realized what she'd said, he looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

  


Squall became irritated, and narrowed his eyes angrily. He shot his hand back, faking a swing at her. Rinoa fell back, and rolled over, still giggling wildly.

  


"I'm out of here" Squall growled. He placed his hands on the sedge of the platform, ready to lift himself up.

  


Rinoa stopped laughing and pleaded with him seriously

  


"Oh come on! I'm sorry!" she said.

  


Squall breathed carefully, and released his grip. His anger subsided, but he was still annoyed.

  


Rinoa noticed his change in temperament, and began speaking again.

  


"But really, we were saying that… well…" she began, walking up to him from behind. "You can't handle everything on your own."

  


Rinoa squatted down behind him, carefully, and quietly, and thrust both hands into his back, sending Squall flying down to the paneling below.

  


Squall landed, barely able to catch himself. And looked around in shock.

  


_"What the hell was THAT!?"_ he thought.

  


Rinoa leapt down after him. She landed, amazingly, perfectly in her high heels. And approached Squall smiling mischievously.

  


Squall threw back his hand with a look of anger on his face. He yelled out something that even he couldn't understand… he just felt like yelling.

  


Rinoa winced, but seemed to expect it.

  


"That's it! Just let out anything!" she encouraged, strangely. "Anything…"

  


Squall folded his arms, and shook his head, calming down. Rinoa was really pressing his buttons tonight, and he couldn't figure out why…

  


Finally, Rinoa began to explain what this was all about.

  


"We want you to talk to us a little more. That's all" she said, her voice becoming soft and calming. 

  


"Y'know, if there's anything you want to tell us, or anything we can do, don't hesitate to let us know. I know it's not easy but I wish you would trust us and rely on us a little more."

  


_"So… this is what tonight is all about?" _Squall wondered. _" …All this… just… for me…? Why?"_

  


Squall put his hand to his forehead, thinking to himself. He turned away from Rinoa, nervously. He did tend to try and do things by himself… he'd taken the lead inadvertently during his SeeD exam… and when Quistis arrived in Timber… He'd even run ahead of Selphie and Quistis during their escape from the desert prison, because he thought that they'd slow him down. He never took anyone along with him with the idea of them helping, unless he absolutely had too. Everything he did… he wanted to do on his own. He didn't trust anyone to do anything… He didn't even trust the headmaster.

  


_"Am I that untrusting…?"_ Squall thought to himself. He gave himself an honest examination, and had to admit that he came across as uncaring and untrusting, even to himself.

  


_"Maybe I'm this way because I'm scared"_ he thought. _"Nothing lasts in this world. It feels great to have friends who believe in you, and adults you can rely on…"_ he stopped himself, not allowing his mind to entertain the thoughts too much. 

  


_"…That's why it's so dangerous, especially if you become used to it"_ he lectured himself.

_"Someday*, you're bound to loose everything. Everybody around you will be gone. Then what are you left with? Nothing. Nobody…"_ Squall's emotions arose, reminding him of the disturbing dream which had been plaguing his sleep lately… a bad memory gone worse by his trying to suppress it.

  


_"It's so miserable. And It's inevitable"_ Squall concluded. _"It's so hard to recover from something like that. I never ever want to deal with that again. I can't" _he thought. He did, however, have to admit the consequence of his resolution…

  


_"Even if it means being alone…"_

  


Rinoa had been pacing back and forth impatiently, waiting for Squall to reply. Finally, she let out an exasperated breath.

  


"I don't get it. What's going on?" she cried.

  


Squall snapped back to alertness at the sound of her voice.

  


_"Huh!? What?"_ he thought, looking around. Then he realized how long he'd been standing there, without replying to her.

  


_"… Oh me?"_

  


Squall turned back around and looked at Rinoa apologetically.

  


"Sorry about that" he said, feeling slightly embarrassed.

  


Rinoa was till pacing about… she seemed to be listening to the music.

  


Squall continued.

  


"So… are we finished here?" he asked, hopeful.

  


Rinoa stopped and shot a glance at him.

  


"What? No, I didn't mean you." she explained quickly. "I was talking about the music. I love this piece but it's been terrible for the last few minutes." She huffed impatiently.

  


"Geez, what's wrong with them?"

  


Squall listened to the music for a moment… it sounded okay to him, but he didn't consider himself an expert on the subject. 

  


"Oh" he said lazily. "Well… I'll see you later, alright?"

  


Squall tried to walk away, but Rinoa called out after him.

  


"Wait! You're not gettin' off that easy" she said. Rinoa seemed genuinely upset now… Squall was surprised at the tone of her voice.

  


"You still owe me an answer" she continued.

  


_"Answer for what…?"_ Squall thought. Then he remembered. _"Oh…"_

  


Squall stuttered a bit, trying to come up with some kind of explanation, but he didn't feel like talking about this anymore.

  


"Fine" he said plainly. " I'll ask for help when I really need it. I'll try to trust everybody more often. Ok?" He gazed a Rinoa, waiting for her response… Squall hoped to end the conversation at that, because he didn't feel like conceding any further.

  


But Rinoa just glared at him, seeming to become even more upset. She yelled at him angrily; "What is your problem!? Why do you have to be like that!? Are you mad or something?"

  


Squall was taken aback by her yelling. He'd never seen her angry like this… sad, yes. But never had she been this upset, and this emotional around him… He felt uncomfortable, but he also felt like he was actually getting to know Rinoa, which merely increased his uneasiness.

  


Rinoa rolled her eyes, and gave an exasperated sigh.

  


"Tell me you are, because this really can't be you!"

  


Squall's voice cracked when he tried to speak. He wasn't quite sure how to respond to her.

  


"I'm sorry", was all he could say.

  


Rinoa just became even more upset at this. She snarled at him in outrage

  


"You're not sorry! You just wanna get the hell out of here, that's all!" she cried. "Geez! Why does it have to be like this!? Why!?"

  


Rinoa's exasperated yelling gave way to a heavy breathing. Her eyes remained narrowed angrily at him, but her mouth changed from a scowl, into a pout… her lips began to quiver, and she choked back tears. Rinoa wiped a sparkle of water away from her right eye with the back of her hand, as she turned away from Squall and ran off to be alone.

  


Squall felt bad. He'd obviously made her cry… but he wasn't sure why exactly. He rubbed his face with his palms in anxiety

  


_" …Oh well"_ he thought. _"This won't change anything… I think I was honest. I prefer to be alone, right?"_ he tried to convince himself.

  


_" …yeah…"_

  


Squall sighed heavily, and continued listening to the music.

************************************************************************

  


It was about midnight, and Squall had been in bed for nearly an hour. However, his sleep had been restless, as it had been for the past few nights… he was dreaming again. And he spoke aloud in his sleep.

  


" …Sis… I'm …all alone. But I'm doing my best… I'll be Ok without you, Sis. I'll be able to take care of myself…"

  


Squall's eyes squeezed tightly shut as he spoke. He frowned and mumbled, all the while tossing and turning in bed… 

************************************************************************

  


A loud voice awoke Squall from his sleep the following morning. 

  


"Squall! Squall!! Please report to the bridge immediately."

  


It was Xu, over the Garden P.A. system. Her voice sounded urgent, but Squall was just irritated.

  


_"What is it now?"_ he wondered.

  


************************************************************************

  


As Squall came up the bridge elevator, Quistis, Xu, and another SeeD all stood at attention on the control panel deck. Squall recognized the other young man as the student he'd graduated with… Nida.

  


Quistis smiled at Squall proudly.

  


"Greetings commander!" she exclaimed.

  


Squall glared at her.

  


"Don't call me that" he said.

  


"We thought you should have a title" Xu explained. "So Quistis and I decided on commander."

  


Squall rolled his eyes, and yawned.

  


"Anyway…" Quistis started. "Sorry to carry things out on our own, but Xu and I assigned duties."

  


Squall eyed her curiously. What did she mean?

  


Xu spoke up.

  


" I'll take care of all the supplies needed in the Garden" she explained.

  


"And I'll help take care of the students with Dr. Kadowaki" Quistis said. "You can just focus on our destination and battle plans."

  


She looked back and forth warily before continuing, she leaned in towards Squall.

  


"And, ah… Will you let Selphie rest a while? I think she's exhausted from the missile base mission. She could use some rest" she said. "How does that sound to you?"

  


Squall thought a moment. It seemed alright to him

  


"Fine…" he said.

  


" All right," Xu said. "I have some reports for you already... whenever you get a minute."

  


Squall nodded. Nida then spoke up. 

  


"Hey, Squall. By the way, you know the FH technicians were fixing the Garden, right? They just finished, meaning… The Garden's ready to go anytime." He explained happily.

  


"Oh yeah. I'll be piloting the Garden. FH technicians taught me everything about piloting this thing. Let me know when you want to go."

  


Quistis looked at Squall curiously.

  


"Any suggestions on where we should go?"

  


Xu raised her hand quickly, and spoke up

  


"Hey, why don't we head back to Balamb? We don't know what's happened since we left. Besides, Balamb may be their next target. It's a harbor town, just like FH."

  


Quistis nodded nervously

  


"You're right. Squall, what do you think?"

  


"…sounds good to me." Squall said, nodding. "We can leave in just a minute then."

  


Squall took a moment to look around the bridge. He noticed that a large white shaft and been fixed into the control paneling. Nida leaned up against it. There were some buttons on it, but other than that, it just seemed to rock slightly back and forth… a steering mechanism, squall assumed. As he inspected it, Quistis and Xu were engaged min conversation.

  


"What does the sorceress really want?" Quistis asked. "It doesn't seem something as simple as world domination…"

  


"I dunno…" Xu lamented. "And what about her ship? The ship that took Ellone.. Where do you think it is? I mean, who are all those people on that ship?"

  


neither of them had answers. The whole situation became more and more confusing with each new bit of information. Quistis just sighed, and turned to Squall.

  


"I wonder if Selphie's feeling better?" Quistis said. "She's actually a real sensitive type."

  


Squall merely shrugged, as Quistis knew he would, and approached Nida, finally ready to depart.

  


"Are we ready to go?" Nida asked.

  


Squall nodded. 

  


"We're taking off. I'll direct you to our destination. Announce the departure" he commanded.

  


"Roger!" Nida complied, flicking a switch to turn the P.A. system on. His voice sounded throughout Garden.

  


"May I have your attention please. This is the bridge. The garden will be leaving FH shortly. Prepare for departure. I'll now hand the mic over to our leader, Squall."

  


Squall's voice now sounded as well.

  


"A speech…? Forget it. Cut the mic!" he cried angrily.

  


On the bridge, Xu and Quistis laughed at Squall's reaction. He merely folded his arms.

  


Xu looked out to the open sea, as Garden began shifting away from the FH dock.

  


"Oh Balamb…" she said to herself. "Feels like a long time since we left."

************************************************************************

  


End Chap. 30

Whoo-hoo! Moving ever foreward… 

  


Is Squall changing AT ALL? -_-… he'd better be. Anyway, next time around, Balamb garden visits it's hometown… but this is no pleasure cruise as we all know… Something bad happens, but Squall and co. get to fix it right up! So read on, leave a review or two, or three or four… and keep on gamin'.

  


************************************************************************

  


  


  


  


  


  


  


  


  


  


  


  


  



	32. Chapter 31: Back to Balamb

**Chapter 31**  
**Back to Balamb**  


  
_"This is taking a lot longer than I expected..."_ Squall thought drearily. He paced through the Garden hallway, past Quistis' old classroom for about the eighth time. His ears perked up as he heard a not-entirely familar voice mumble something from inside the room. With one final clomp of his boot, Squall stoped, and abrubtly turned around. He walked quickly into the classroom to investigate, happy to have a distraction.  
  
As he entered, Squall took note of a cowboy hate tipped precariously over the forehead of a young man, leaning up agaisnt the back wall. Two female students at the front of the class giggled, and eyed him curiously.   
  
Irvine looked up as Squall approched him. He smirked.  
  
Squall couldn't imagine why he would ever want to strike up a conversation with Irvine if he didn't have to, but no one else seemed to be around at the moment... or had he been avoding everyone all day? Squall couldn't remember. But he was bored right now, so he nodded politely at Irvine.  
  
Immediatly, Irvine began to talk about girls.  
  
"Hmmm... tough choice…" he thought aloud. "Now, do I go for the girl with the pigtail, or the one with the bob? Or how bout that brunette…?"  
  
Squall took a seat at one of the desks, and buried his face into his open hands.  
  
_"This was a bad idea..."_ Squall thought.  
  
Irvine glanced at Squall for a moment, and scrachted his chin contemplativly for a moment.  
  
"So like.. I've been thinking about this for a while now…" Irvine began. "Maybe you should loosen up a bit? You'll be sure to get girls that way…!" he blurted out.  
  
Squall lifted his hand.   
  
"Yeah. You can just stop right there."  
  
Irvine smirked again.  
  
"Your loss" he joked.  
  
Squall turned his back to Irvine, and started fiddling with the keyboard in front of him.   
  
_"Been a while since I've checked the Garden Network..." _ thought Squall. _"Nothing's probably been updated... To much has been going on... Not like it was ever updated reugularly anyway, though..."_  
  
But Squall pressed the power button all the same. At the very least students wold probably be posting on the forum.  
  
After looking through all of the sections, and seeing that none of them had been updated hardly at all, Squall wearily clicked on the last menu item.  
  
_"Garden Festival..." _Squall thought. _"Selphie never really got to have the Garden festival... even though she did preform that concert..."_  
  
Squall read the general annoucment part of the Garden festival page, noiting that Selphie had just updated it yesterday morning. In fact, the entire page was full of diary entries, notes, and annoucments.  
  
_"Selphie's been busy..."_  
  
************************  
**Garden festival information:** I guess it wasn't meant to be this time, but here'll be a Garden festival next year, and the year after that and on and on! So… We're still looking for new members! (It's not like I've given up on this one yet!)  
  
**My friends!:** I made a friend! I think I'll have my friends write stuff directly in here. I thought I'd have our leader, Squall, go first, but then I realized he'd never do that… So here's the order…  
  
_Previous entries:_ How you all doin'? This is Irvine Kinneas. Selphie asked me if I could write something. How could I refuse? Well, I'm here from Galbadia Garden due to personal reasons. I think I fit in quite well. What do you think? With so many cuties here, I look foreword to gettin' up in the mornings. (You seem like a good guy but… I don't know…)  
  
_Latest: _Yo, s'up? It's Zell Dincht. …The hell do I write? Yeah, I know I said I'd write somethin' but I have nothin'' to write. Oh wait.. I-love-hot-dogs. You know, the ones that're always sold out? Anyway, that's it for me!  
***********************************************************************  
  
Days passed. Squall tired to remain busy with his duties as 'commander', but since Xu, and Quistis had stepped up to help him out, there wasn't much left for him to do except sign a few papers here and there. But it wasn't long before things started getting busy again.  
  
As Squall exited the training center after an hour long session, he heard Nida's voice over the Garden P.A.  
  
"Squall! er... commander! Please report to the bridge immediatly!"  
  
Squall sheathed his gunblade and immediatly complied.  
  
_"Finally..." _he thought.  
  
***********************************************************************  
  
"Would you take a look at that..." Nida exclaimed.  
  
From the bridge windows, Squall, Quistis, Xu, and Nida could see Balamb city approaching fast off the horizon.  
  
"Looks like we're almost home..." Quistis smiled.  
  
Squall folded his arms, and gazed out on the tiny spot of land off in the distance. Garden was moving pretty fast, and they would be docked at Balamb in less than a half hour.  
  
"Waitaminute..." Squall suddenly asserted. "Look."  
  
He pointed towards Balamb, which came closer and closer every second. A richly colred red mass now obstructed their view of the Balamb harbor, and a large portion of the buildings.  
  
Quistis, Xu, and Nida squinted, observing the strange object curiously.  
  
Suddenly, Quistis gasped and turned around to face Squall, quivering slightly.  
  
"Squall... doesn't that look like..."  
  
Squall cut her off, completing her sentence.  
  
"Galbadia Garden. I know." he said solomly.  
***********************************************************************  
  
Suspicious of the other floating Garden, Squall ordered Nida to pull up on the beach about a mile from Balamb. Galbadia Garden was docked in Balamb's harbor, it's own blue and golden colored ring hovering around it, keeping the vessile aloft.   
  
Squall decided to investigate what was going on in Balamb. He gathered his thoughts quickly.  
  
_"If it's true that the sorceress ... Edea, wanted to use Garden as her base... Then could she be in control of the Garden now? ... No... no... I don't think that the SeeD at that Garden would go down that easily... Would they?"_  
  
Squall shook his head and motioned for Quistis to follow him as he exited the bridge.  
  
"What are we doing?" she asked.  
  
"...We're just gonna check out the city" Squall replied. "Something doesn't seem right... but maybe I'm just being paranoid..."  
  
Quistis looked at him curiously.  
  
"Well, if something's going on in Balamb, I think Zell's gonna want to know... Maybe we'd better take him along."  
  
Squall didn't even turn his head.  
  
"Whatever" he replied. "Just get him at the Garden exit. Quick."  
***********************************************************************  
  
Squall, Quistis, and Zell took a careful step onto Balamb's main street. Immediately, Zell's eyes widened, and he blinked furiously.   
  
"What the hell? What's goin' on here?"  
  
Zell stood there, glaring at a heavily armed Galbadian military vehicle, and a guard posted right next to it. They were blocking the mainroad.  
  
Squall's earlier suspicions were confirmed, but he still raised an eyebrow, confused.  
  
"What is this…?" he wondred aloud. "Galbadia?"  
  
After starring in disbelife, the trio noticed two other bystanders, Balamb citizens. One was a middle aged woman, sitting against a brick wall. Zell approached her.  
  
"What's going on here?!" he exclaimed. She lifted her face, and Zell immediatly felt bad for yelling. It was the hotel owners wife, and the hotel owner was pacing back and forth just a few feet away. Her eyes had deep, dark lines in them, making it obvious that she hadn't slept at all in quite some time, amd fresh tears flooded her cheeks.  
  
She recognized Zell, and faked a smile, but then expressed even more frusteration than Zell had.  
  
"I don't know what to do! What's happening to this town!? When can we go in!? If I knew this was going to happen, I would have brought my daughter with me! I hope she's all right… ohhh… I hope grandpa's taking care of her…"  
  
After conversing with her a bit more, Zell discovered that Galbadian soldiers were keeping Balamb under occupation. Apparently, the couple waiting outside of town had been removed to make accomodations for the soldiers in the hotel. After refusing, one of the head men had them kicked out of town indefinatly.  
  
The hotel owner approached Zell and his wife now. Placing his hand on Zell's shoulder, he sighed unhappily. He looked tired as well.  
  
"We were forced out of town days ago" he explained. "Our daughter's still at home, but there's nothing we can do. With all these soldiers from Galbadia, you've got to stop and wonder whether Galbadia fell to the hands of the sorceress. I wonder how the town's holding up…? Was it just a lie, about liberating the town in a few days?"  
  
Zell shook his head angrily. These two people... all the people in Balamb were men and woman who had helped to raise him... people he'd grown up with.   
  
"...We're going to take care of this" Zell promised the couple. "Just don't you worry about it, a'ight?"  
  
The hotel owner and his wife nodded gratefully. Zell turned around and narrowed his eyes angrily.   
  
_"Who KNOWS what's going on inside town..."_ Zell thought. He couldn't bare the thought of his friends and family suffering like the citizen's of Timber had... esspecially now that Edea, the sorceress, was in control of Galbadia.  
  
Zell looked to Squall, who'd been observing the guard for a while now. Zell looked at him questioningly, and mouthed, 'what next?'  
  
Squall looked back and forth between him and the guard. Finally, Squall waved Zell over, and motioned for him and Quistis to follow him.  
  
Squall approached the soldier causually, and asked, "What's going on?"  
  
The guard was very young, and by the tone of his voice, it was obvious that the uniform had gone to his head. He stood at attention, and spoke harshly to Squall.  
  
"This town is under the control of Sorceress Edea! The town is off limits while we conduct our investigation! It will last for several days! Once we're through with our investigation here, you're next. So just stay out and stay put!" he barked.  
  
_"So it's true... Galbadia Garden has been taken over by Edea and Galbadia... and it's mobile just like Balamb Garden..."_  
  
Squall tried to look around the gaurds head, seeing if he could catch a glimpse of hat was going on aorund town. The soldeir immediatly put up his hand to block Squall's view.  
  
"You guys look suspicious. What are you doing here?" he demanded.  
  
"What's Galbadia doing in a town like this?" Squall demanded in return.  
  
The gaurd stuttered slightly, but answered harshly.  
  
"W-What do you want? Are you residents here?"  
  
Zell now stepped in, fists swinging threateningly.  
  
"YEAH, that's right!" he yelled. "At least residents should be allowed in!"  
The guard's ego kicked in at this point. He wasn't gonna be spoken to like this... HE was a Galbadian Soldier.  
  
"It's OFF-LIMITS! You cannot enter or leave. Do you understand!?"  
  
Zell laughed, self-assuredly.  
  
"Hah!? Who do you think you're talking to?" he said, positioning himself in a fighting stance.  
  
Squall put up his hand between the soldeir and Zell. He calmly began speaking with the soldier again.  
  
"What? What is it now?" the gaurd said, exasperated.  
  
"You said the town was off-limits…" Squall replied. "Does that mean we can't deliver a message either?"  
  
The soldier nodded 'yes'.  
  
"…That's too bad. We have some info on Ellone…"  
  
The air all around seemed to go dead silent. The guard's jaw fell open, and he blinked in shock.  
  
"W-what?" he exclaimed. "Elle… Wait a minute!"  
  
The guard glanced around supisiously, and spoke under his breath.  
  
"(Tell me everything you know about her! Do you actually know who she is?")  
  
Squall had to think quick at this point.  
  
"Kind of… But we need to get inside to confirm something" he explained.  
  
The soldier bit his bottem lip and looked back and forth nervously. Letting someone in who had information on Ellone... that was an automatic promotion at _least. _Edea wanted this Ellone ...whoever she was... found and brought to her ASAP. A top priority mission. However, he had specific orders not to let anyone under ANY circumstance into Balamb.  
  
After one more nervous gance, he finally gave in.  
  
"If you find out any information at all, go talk to the commander. She's staying at the hotel! You will be rewarded" he explained.  
  
Squall nodded with fake apprciation, and the soldier moved aside, allowing the three into town.  
  
After creating some distance between themselves and the guard, Zell tapped on Squall's shoulder.  
  
"Hey... let's uh... just sweep through town real quick, make sure that nobody's gettin' messed with too bad."  
  
Squall puased a moment, contemplating Zell's idea, and glancing down the street at a group of Galbadian soldiers.  
  
"Alright." Squall agreed. "We can try to avoid confronting the soldiers if nothing else... Just duck into this house right here."  
  
Zell opened the front door to one of the homes on mainstreet. It sunk down into the street just like all the other homes. Squall and Quistis went down the stairs, and into the house after Zell.  
  
Zell immediatly grabbed the attention of the house's resident. An older gentleman with whitening hair. A girl in the back of the living area starred at the floor sadly, rocking back and forth on the ball's of here feet.  
  
The old man pointed to the young girl, his granddaughter.  
  
"Since her parents are away, I'm packing her bags, so that she'll be able to stay next door" he explained. Zell nodded. The young girl was the hotel owner's 12 year old daughter.  
  
Zell looked to the girl, and back at the old man, and smiled wryly.  
  
"Don't know what will become of Balamb… I'm sure the sorceress and Galbadia don't give a rotten hoot bout this here town" the old man sighed.  
  
"Don't you even worry about ol' crap-brained Galbadia or their stupid sorceress!" Zell cried. "We're SeeD! We'll mop the streets with their asses!"  
  
The old man chuckled slightly, but regained his compuser, and scolded Zell.  
  
"Please... watch your mouth in front of my grandaughter Zell... You're setting a bad example, and she's upset enough as it is."  
  
"Aw, com'on gramps... you know how frusterated I get about things like this!" Zell moaned. "They've got the whole DAMN TOWN in their control!!! Why, do you know what they threatened to do to Fisherman's Horizon?! They..."  
  
Squall stepped in.  
  
"Zell. That's enough. They look like they're alright for now, so let's move on."  
  
Zell was about to defend himself again, but a young voice sounded from the living room...  
  
"Mommy and daddy haven't come back…" she whispered loudly. then her voice became more agressive... and louder...  
  
"I can't take it! I can't take it anymore…"  
  
Zell gulped, feeling guilty, and follwed Squall and Quistis outside as the young girl began sobbing...  
***********************************************************************  
  
Outside the Galbadian soldiers were still patrolling the streets dutifully. Only one other person remained out on the street who wasn't from Galbadia.   
  
A lady wearing a long yellow skirt and a brightly colored barret recognized Zell. She waved him and his group over to her, and she took a seat on the bench next to the repair shop, right across from the soldier's, who didn't seem to be paying them any heed.  
  
"So, you here to... " the lady looked around carefully before continuing, in a slight whipser. "(liberate town, Zell?)"  
  
Zell rubbed the back of his neck, smirking confidently. The woman smiled.  
  
"Well, whatever's in the store is basically all we have left" she glanced at Squall and Quistis, speaking to all three of them now.  
  
"Thanks to Mrs. Dincht, there hasn't been much of a panic, but there's not much we can do."  
  
She sighed.  
  
"Those Galbadian soldiers… They're just trying to torture us slowly. Everyone's basically on edge. I wonder if that Ellone girl is really here? I know it sounds terrible, but if she's here, I wish they'd find her. That's just how I honestly feel."  
  
Zell nodded, solomly, understanding. But he, Squall and Quistis all felt the same intuition when it came to the matter of Ellone...   
  
_"If the sorceress wants Ellone... " _Squall thought, _"We want her more..." _  
  
Suddenly, one of the soldier's took note of the four people across from him. H frowned and yelled out at them.  
  
"HEY! If you're done with your errands, go home! If I see you loitering, I'll have to take you in!"  
  
Zell nearly shook his fist in the direction of the guard, but he thought better of it. Instead, he, Quistis, and Squall waited for the soldier to turn around again, and they listened to his convrsation.  
  
"The commander is suspicious of small towns like this. But how in the world are we supposed to find this girl Ellone if we only have her name to go on?" the soldier said.  
  
Another soldier waved his hand.  
  
"I think she'll turn up. She won't be able to run from sorceress Edea. Then the world according to Edea will begin" he laughed. "Along with our Galbadian rule..."  
  
The first soldier still shook his head,  
  
"If we only had a little more information about this girl…" he lamented.  
  
The other soldier lifted his head, and scratched his chin.  
  
"hmm… Galbadian rule… has a nice ring to it."  
  
One of the soldier's glanced at Squall again and jabbed his finger in the direction of a house.  
  
'NOW', he mouthed harshly.  
  
Squall put his hands up, admitting defeat.  
  
"alright alright..." he muttered.  
  
Zell nuged Squall and Quistis.  
  
"Hey, we can take it easy at my pad for a few minutes..." he offered. "Like Angelica said, Ma's been helpin' people out, so she'd probably want to know that we're here..."  
  
_"We can't stay indoors with the rest of Balamb, though..." _Squall thought. _"We need to find a way to get Galbadia out of here..."_  
***********************************************************************  
  
Zell threw open the door to his house.  
  
"MA, I'm home!…" he yelled. But as he stopped to take a around, no one seemed to be there.  
  
"Huh?" he said, scratching his head.  
  
Zell ran into the back of his home, in the sitting area. He was relived to see his mother there, conversing with one of their neighbors, and her son.  
  
"Ma, you're safe!" Zell cried joyfully.  
  
Zell's mother looked at him with surprise. She was overjoyed to see her son.  
  
"Zell! How on earth did you get into town!?" she asked happily.  
  
Zell smirked confidently  
  
"It's all in the brains, Ma." he explained. "We just said we had some info on Ellone. Piece O' cake!"  
  
Squall shot a quick, mean glance at Zell, but kept his mouth shut.  
  
Zell's mother sighed.  
  
"What a relief…" she said. "I was worried you might have beaten up one of the guards. The soldiers have threatened that the sorceress will burn the town to the ground should there be any disturbance."  
  
Zell narrowed his eyes.  
  
_"Over my dead body" _he thought.  
  


***------------------------------PLACE MARKER---------------------***  
  
**(Sick of reading right now? Take a break, and find your spot right here when you come back to the story)**  


  
Squall approached Mrs. Dincht.  
  
"Sorceress Edea? Is she here?" he asked.  
  
Zell's mother shrugged her shoulders.  
  
"I noticed a woman with the Galbadian army. Gray hair, patch over one eye…"  
  
Squall lowered his head, thinking. That wasn't Edea she was describing...  
  
"Must be Fuijin" Squall observed. Fujin and Raijin were easy to spot... Esspecially with Fujin's unusual, sliver hair.  
  
"So they're here…?" Squall said to himself.  
  
Zell laughed.  
  
"Leave it to me. I'll get rid of those jokers!"  
  
_"Could Seifer be here too?" _Squall thought.  
  
Zell's mother continued.  
  
"They say the town will be released in several days. I wonder if it's true? The whole town's on edge. The residents, the soldiers…"   
  
She shot a authoritative glance at her son.  
  
"Control yourself Zell. It's not like you'll be able to resolve things by fighting."  
  
"MA!" Zell cried. "You know me... cool as ice!"  
  
Zell's mother surpressed a chuckle.  
  
The other woman in the room forced a smile.  
  
"Thank you for having us over during these troubled times" she said to Mrs. Dincht. She then looked to Zell.  
  
"Zell, I'm sure the whole town is counting on you, but don't strain yourself or take any chances..." she said with concern. She paused a moment, and said. "But maybe just one SOCK in the nose might be good."   
  
Zell smirked.   
  
"Wait, wait, wait… I thought you were concerned about me!?"   
  
The woman shruged playfully.  
  
"Well, those soldier's should get what's comin' to them" she laughed.  
  
Zell puffed out his chest and swung his fists.  
  
"Hah! Just wait. I'll show em what I'm all about!"  
  
Suddenly, the woman's son, known affectionatly as the Big bad rascal in Zell's neighborhood, jumped up and down excitedly.   
  
"Yo, Zell!" he cired out. "I've been practicin' my special move for a day like this!"  
  
The young boy took a step back, brought his hands up and began slashing and hacking at the air with his arms and legs.  
  
"HYEEE-YAA SuuuPER-MIRICALE KiiiCK!!!" he yelled at the top of his lungs.  
  
After everyone had unplugged their ears, Zell smiled. He wouldn't have admitted it, but Zell knew that this kid was just like him when he was that age.  
  
"Don't worry. It's my special move, so I'll only use it if I have to!" the rascal said. He then looked around and shrugged.  
  
"Well, I'm off to check things out!"   
  
And with that, he escaped from the group before his mother could grab on to him, and ran out the Dincht's front door.  
  
His mother slapped her forehead in frusteration.  
  
"That boy! I told him to stay inside! Zell, if you see my son, just drag him back here, please."  
  
"No prob!" Zell said. "We've gotta go give the Galbadian's what-for anyway..."  
***********************************************************************  
  
"So, what do you think, Squall?" Zell asked as the three exited his home. "What's our next step?"  
  
_"We could potentially do several things..." _ Squall thought. _"But our best bet is to find Fujin and Raijin... try to figure out what exactly they plan on doing with Ellone, and see if we can get them to leave Balamb..."_  
  
Zell and Quistis looked at Squall for a moment, as he bent his head down, thinking to himself.  
  
"HEH-LOW!" Quistis yelled, shoving Squall in the arm. "Would you mind filling the rest of us in sometime soon?"  
  
Squall snapped back to attention, but merely eyed Quistis curiously.  
  
_"What's with her..." _he thought. Squall merely shrugged it off though.  
  
"Zell, your mom said that Fuijin... or at least someone who LOOKS like Fujin is here..." Squall said.  
  
"I seriously doubt that it could be anyone else..." Quistis said. "Silver hair? An eyepatch? com'on. It's gotta be her."  
  
Squall nodded in agreement.  
  
"That's what I think." he agreed. "And if Fujin's here..."  
  
"Then Raijin's probably here with her" Zell inserted. "Like I said, the both of em's here, and we'll get rid of em'... they're still siding with Seifer as far as we know..."  
  
"Yeah..." Squall agreed. "But Seifer might be with them too, and if he's Edea's knight..."  
  
Quistis' eye's widened and she stopped in her tracks.   
  
"You think Edea's here?"  
  
"Maybe." Squall said plainly. "But let's just focus on finding Fujin or Raijin first. Even if Seifer and Edea aren't here, we still need to get these soldier's out of Balamb..."  
  
Quistis and Zell nodded in agreement.  
  
"Good." Squall said plainly. "Let's head towards the hotel... we'll have to dig around for information... try to get in as many places as we can..."  
***********************************************************************  
  
After ducking past the gaurds on the main street, Squall and his companions made their way to the Balamb Hotel. More gaurds stood in the way, but didn't bother them until they came to close...  
  
"What do you want!?" the first one yelled. "If it's the commander you're looking for, I have strict orders not to let anyone through."  
  
_"Commander..." _Squall thought. _"If we could get to whoever that is... "_  
  
Squall looked up at the guard, and began speaking in a low voice.  
  
"Look... we've been sent here becuase we have information on someone named Ellone... it's imparitive that we speak with whoever's in charge."  
  
The guard riased an eyebrow immediatly at this, but didn't seem as impressed as Squall had hoped.  
  
"What?" he barked crudely. "Information about Ellone?"  
  
He looked over to his partner.  
  
"Hmm…more rumors?" he sugested.  
  
The second guard seemed wary as well, but more easy going.  
  
"You know that we'll get a salary cut if we let'em through without confirmation."  
  
The first laughed slightly and hung his head.  
  
"Yeah I know… in this army your salary gets based on just how the boss is feeling… I guess it goes with the territory when you can't choose your own boss."  
  
Squall rolled his eyes and sighed in irritation.  
  
_"NOBODY get's to choose his own boss..." _he thought.  
  
Zell became even more impatient, as the two gaurds discussed the situation. He finally snapped.  
  
"Yo, Listen! We have top secret info! Bring the commander out here!" he yelled.  
  
Both looked at Zell suddenly, narrowing their eyes.  
  
"These guys are kinda suspicious huh?" the first guard said under his breath.  
  
"Yeah, totally!" the second agreed.  
  
They both nodded, formulating a plan in unison, without even speaking.  
  
"Have some respect for the captain! The captain is currently on patrol!" the gaurd suddenly yelled.  
  
"The captain will be sure to reward you. He'll also take full responsibility… go talk to the captain." the second said.  
  
Squall was about to protest, but he was cut short.  
  
"GO TO THE CAPTAIN FIRST." the gaurds both stated firmly.  
  
Squall, once again frusterated and confused by the laziness and lack of motivation rampent in the Galbadian army, admitted defeat. He backed away, and attempted to regroup with Quistis and Zell.  
  
Zell was, however, occupied. Another one of Balamb's residents had approached him.  
  
"Zell! You sure came back at a good time. Do something about these soldiers! They walk about like they own this place! If only my hubby were still alive… He would've shown them for sure!"   
  
A slightly heavy-set woman conversed with Zell about how the soldeir's had done this and that... Zell finally had to innterupt her.  
  
"Don't worry... We're taking care of it" Zell assured her.  
  
He turned around to see Squall and Quistis waiting for him.  
  
"My, my, my... Quite the celebratey here, aren't we Zell?" Quistis teased. Zell blushed and rubbed the back of his neck nervously.   
  
"Yeah, well... y'know..." Zell said, trying to hide his pride.  
  
Squall faked a loud cough.   
  
"A-hem" he choked out. "Can we get on with it?" he huffed.  
  
Quistis and Zell came to attention.  
  
"Ok," Squall said. "They won't talk to us until we find this 'captain'... Whoever he is."  
  
Zell poked up his hand slowly. Squall shot him an irritated glare.  
  
"Zell... don't raise your hand.... we aren't in class. Just spit it out."  
  
Zell blushed slightly.  
  
"Uh, well... I was just thinking... Why should we go on a wild goose chase looking for soldiers, when we're looking for Fuijin and Raijin... shouldn't we find them?"  
Squall paused a moment, head bent down. Had he become distracted that easily? Had he actually let the idiocity of the Galbadian soldier's make him loose sight of their objective...?  
  
_"I must be getting tired..." _Squall thought. _"We have been here for a few hours now... and it's not like I've been sleeping that great lately..."_  
  
Quistis raised an eyebrow at Squall. He looked terrible.  
  
_"Poor guy looks like somebody went and cast 'Zombie' on him" _she thought, compassionatly.   
  
Quistis turned to Zell.  
  
"Well, Zell..." She began. "It's obvious that... um... in order to find Fuijin and Raijin, we have to build a slight confidance with someone in charge, so we can... erm... you know... pump them for information about their plans, or, uh... who's working for them..."  
  
Zell looked confused.   
  
"Yeah, but didn't Squall just..."  
  
"Garden Code; Article 8: Line 15!" Quistis quickly inserted.  
  
Zell raised an eyebrow, extremly confused at this.  
  
"What?" he asked.  
  
"'SeeDs are not to question commanding SeeDs during missions, training, or other specified Garden/SeeD activities, as regards actions, orders, and conduct'" Quistis recited.  
  
Zell scratched his head, looking at his feet.  
  
"oh..." he said. "But...I don't remember that part of the Code..." he uttered, unsure of himself.  
  
Quistis patted Zell on the shoulder, reassuringly.  
  
"Well, it's no surprise Zell... you did only score a 76% on the Garden Code memorization test..."  
  
Zell gave an embaressed smile, still confused.   
  
"Yeah... I guess so..." he said.   
  
Quistis galnced behind her shoulder at Squall, who was smirking ever-so slightly, and winked at him.  
  
It took all of Squall's self-control to not laugh.  
  
_"Garden Code Articles never exceed 12 lines..."_ he thought, following Quistis and Zell. He called ahead to them.  
  
"Hey, Zell..."  
  
Zell turned his head.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Why don't you scope out the situation ahead, while me and Quistis stay back. Signal to us if the coast is clear."  
  
Zell saluted him.  
  
"Will do, Commander!"  
  
And with that, a clueless Zell ran ahead, down to the docks of Balamb.  
  
Squall caught up to Quistis, and they walked side by side for a moment.  
  
"Line 15?" Squall asked, striaght faced.  
  
Quistis chuckled.  
  
"That _was _pretty good, wasn't it?" she said cheerfully.  
  
Squall smirked again.   
  
"Well, since we're expanding on the Garden CodeBook today, care to share Line 16?" he asked.  
  
Quistis smiled.   
  
"Oh, certainly..." she said. They both stopped. Squall folded his arms, and Quistis placed her hands behind her back.  
  
"A-hem!" she coughed. "'Garden Code; Article 8: Line 16: Commanding SeeDs should be eternally grateful to any subordinate who get's them out of embarresing situations...'" Quistis said, trying not to laugh.  
  
"'...Esspecially good-looking ones.'"  
  
She topped off the joke with a wink.  
  
Squall rolled his eyes... But not harshly. If Quistis didn't know any better, she would've thought that the expression was almost... playful.  
  
"And would the 'good-looking ones' be in reference to the Commanders, or their subordinates?" Squall teased.  
  
Quistis suddenly fell silent. Not only did she find herself lacking a comeback, but for once in her life, Quistis broke out in a blush before Squall did.  
  
"Well... I... um... I suppose..." Quistis stuttered.  
  
_"Holy Hyne!" _she thought. _"I never thought in a million years he'd flirt BACK at me...! What am I supposed to say?!!"_  
  
Squall was confused. Quistis had never been one to be shy... at least not like this. Why would she choose now, when he was actually comfortable joking around with her, to get so... _un_comfortable.  
  
_"Did I say something... wrong?" _Squall thought. He shook his head.  
  
_"...Whatever."_  
  
Quistis glanced around nervously.  
  
"Oh... I ..uh... I think I hear Zell... We'd better catch up to him!" she said suddenly. Getting ready to run up ahead, she impulsivly siezed Squall's hand.  
  
As she did, Quistis stopped dead in her tracks, and fell utterly silent. She shot her face up quickly, and Quistis' eyes met Squall's. She gazed at him, just standing still. Her eyes went wide with fear, embaresment, and even anger.   
  
From Squall's vantage point, Quistis' expression was firece, but unreadable. Squall couldn't tell if she was mad, or afraid, or what. But the look on her face was extremely intense.Quistis whole upper body began to quiver, and she swallowed, attempting to remove a lump in her throat, which blocked her voice.  
  
The seconds that she stood, gazing up into Squall's confused eyes, seemed like hours. A million thoughts passed through her head. What was she thinking? Why didn't she release his hand? Why'd she grab it in the first place?  
  
She suddenly flung Squall's hand away from her, and ran ahead, hiding her face from sight. Her boots clomped loudly on the stone walkway.  
  
_"Now what was THAT about..." _Squall wondered. He didn't even connect her grabing his hand with the sudden and awkward behavior... He merely assumed that it was meant to get his attention.  
  
_"What was that look for? And why'd she just stand there for so long?"_  
  
Squall was extremly confused.  
***********************************************************************  
  
Quistis brushed back her hair with a stern look on her face as she caught up to Zell.  
  
"Hey!" Zell greeted. "Uh.... I thought you were staying behind until..."  
  
"Changed our mind" Quistis abrubtly inserted. She seemed irritated to Zell.  
  
Squall approached them shortly, and Quistis avoided eye contact. Squall thought about saying something, but once again his embaressment and private nature haulted the attempt.  
  
"...We might as well find the 'Captian'" Squall said gruffly.   
  
Zell felt slightly uncomfortable, sensing that something was amiss. However, before he could fully understand the feeling, he noticed a young man squatting besides some of the Galbadian Military vehicles.  
  
It was one of Zell's friends from town. He usually helped out the mechanic, as an apprentice, whom he always referred to as 'Boss'.  
  
The assistant noticed Zell and smiled.  
  
"Zell! YES you're finally here! You have to avenge my boss! Those Galbadians broke the bosses arm! All he did was ask a question!"  
  
Zell shook his fists angrily.  
  
"Well... what was he asking?!" Zell cried.  
  
"He wanted to know what was to become of Balamb! Oh man… If only I were as strong as you, Zell."  
  
The young man hung his head for a moment, shamefully. Soon, though, he put his hand to his chin.  
  
"That's it!" he cried. "I'll set a bomb in this car and… oh man… I can't use the skills my boss taught me for that kinda stuff…"  
  
Zell patted his friend on the back. He then looked up and noticed that Squall and Quistis were walking away without him.  
  
"Hey! Wait up guys!" he cried.  
  
_"...Maybe I should start thinking about a possible confrontation..." _Squall thought. _"We may need to fight... I just wonder if we could hold our own here..."_  
  
Squall looked around for something, anything, to indicate how strongly upheld Galbadia was here in Balamb. Not that the soldiers weren't enough to keep the residents out, but did they have a means of fighting against a Garden full of SeeD?  
A Galbadian soldier noticed Squall and his group, glaring at them menecingly. Squall frowned and glared back at him with just as much contempt. The soldier smirked.  
  
"Just be grateful to Galbadia that this town hasn't gone up in a sea of flames. Sorceress Edea has the power to wipe this town out, you know?" he called at them.  
  
Squall ignored his taunts, and pressed foreward to investigate the docks.  
  
Two soldiers were at the dock's end, one scoring the ground for something. he moaned to himself.  
  
"All I do is just crouch all day and look for clues. Ellone's possessions… some scent for the dog to go by…"  
  
A golden retriver sat lazily next to the other soldeir. It's mouth opened widely, yawning.  
  
Squall approached the soldeir who was standing next to the dog. Quistis sqautted down to the dog and began petting it. Squall spoke with the soldeir.  
  
"We're um... searching for the captain." Squall said. "Any idea where we might find him?"  
  
This soldier seemed quite laid back, and unagressive.  
  
"Oh, the captain?" he replied. "Yeah, he was just fishing here. He caught a few and got really excited. Said he was gonna eat 'em right away."  
  
Squall nodded, appriciatvly. He tapped Quistis on the shoulder just as she was scratching behind the dog's ear.  
  
She smiled at the canine.  
  
"Cute dog." she said.  
  
The soldeir looked down at the dog contemplativly for a moment.  
  
"I've been told to use this dog to find Ellone" he explained. "But without her scent to go by, what can we do?"  
  
Quistis faked a nervous smile, and waved goodbye to the soldeir and his dog. She followed Squall and Zell once again, back up to Balamb's main street.  
  
Once they found their way back up to the street Zell lived on, Squall glanced at his house, and then up at the sky... The sun was setting.  
  
"Zell... it's getting late." Squall said. "We might need to spend the night, before finishing up our buisness here."  
  
_"Which we're still unsure of..." _Squall thought to himself.  
  
"Do you think your mom would let us stay at your place until tomorrow?"  
  
Zell shot a questioning glance at Squall.  
  
"...Yeah... I guess..." Zell said. "But... YOU AREN'T GOIN' IN TA MY ROOM!" he asserted.  
  
As Squall and Zell talked, Quistis looked around curiously. She sniffed.  
  
"WHEW!" she exclaimed. There was a strong odor in the air.  
  
Squall and Zell stopped for a moment.  
  
"...Smells like... rotten fish..." Zell complained. He looked over to the chimey of his house to see thick smoke rising from it.  
  
"...The hell?" Zell asked aloud.  
***********************************************************************  
As Zell, Squall and Quistis entered Zell's house, the stench became stronger.  
  
Zell's mother appraoched them, covering her nose.  
  
"Just now, a man came in and asked if he could use the kitchen… I think he cooked some fish. The whole room is filled with this strange odor." she said.  
  
Zell winced at the smell. It wasn't terrible, but it was strong.  
  
"Must've been pretty bad fish to give off this odor." Zell's mother said. "I wonder if he's really going to eat it? Said he was going to eat it with his men. Hope nothing happens to them…"  
  
Zell laughed.   
  
"I DO." he said.  
  
A loud voice from the back of Zell's house rang out.  
  
"Pewweww… this stench is clogging up my pours!"  
***********************************************************************  
  
After the smell had cleared, Squall decided that it was definatly time to find a place to stay.  
  
"Zell..." he said. "We really need to stay here tonight."  
  
Zell moaned slightly.  
  
"We can't stay at the hotel… So I guess we have no choice." Zell took a deep breath for his next sentence.  
  
"Let's just go to my room and rest." he said begrudingly.  
  
Squall and Quistis both withheld a chuckle. Zell blushed.  
  
"It's not like I'm inviting you guys, ok? It's cause we have no choice!"  
  
Zell reluctantly lead Quistis and Squall up into his room. He peeked in carefully, making sure everything was in order. Quistis nudged him in irritation.  
  
Zell finally opened his door entirely, revealing his bedroom. The three entered slowly.  
  
Squall folded his arms and examined the room.   
  
"So this is Zell's room" Squall said, mocking interest.  
  
Quistis looked around, somewhat confused.  
  
"It's so clean for a guy's room..." she said.f course. She was shocked at how immaculate Zell's room was.   
  
Quistis continued to look around curiously. She noticed a large T-board leaning up against his wall.  
  
"Hey? Zell, I thought you had your T-board confiscated?"  
  
Zell, still trying to get comfortable with other people in his room, glanced quickly at his hovering T-board, and back at Quistis.   
  
"Heh-heh" he chuckled. "Once you reach my caliber, you've gotta have more than one"  
  
Quistis smirked for a moment. Upon taking another look at the T-board, however, she began giggling uncontrolably.  
  
Zell scratched the back of his head.  
  
"What?" he asked. "What's so funny?"  
  
Quistis surpressed her laughs just long enough to speak.  
  
"I just remembered something" she said. Quistis then turned to Squall. "Do you know about Zell's famous incident'?" she asked.  
  
Squall raised an eyebrow.  
  
"What incident?" he asked.  
  
Quistis chuckled once more, placing her hand on her knee to steady herself.  
  
"Well," she began, "Zell was riding his T-board around the hallways of Garden. Suddenly he made a sharp turn right into the women's rest…"  
  
Zell went wide eyed and cried out immediatly.  
  
"ARRGHH!! Enough of that story!!!"

*******************************************************************************************************************************  
End Chap. 31  
  
That was pretty long. but I guess it's a fitting length since I haven't just sat down to write like this in such a long time...  
  
Not much happening here storywise, other than building suspense. Next chapter, Squall has an interesting conversation with one of his closest friends. Just an interesting tidbit I added to give this section of chapters a personal touch. However, chapter 33 is where it ALL comes out.. and boy, oh boy, do I mean _**ALL. **_(Well, ok... everything having to do with Squall, Quistis, Irvine, Zell, & Selphie at least... But it's still a LOT.)

Now, by-the-by, I did get a review stating that I was quite long-winded, and I just want to say this...  
THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!  
  
You seriously have no idea how much I've wanted someone to say that I was writing TOO MUCH!  
  
Honestly though, I think I agree with that assesment. I did ask in earlier chapters that people tell me if I was getting to 'wordy', but the only response I got was 'THIS STORYZ R0X0RZ MAH B0XORZ!!!1! WRITE MORE OR SUX0RZ TAH j00!!!!' (or, for those of you needing this broken 'l337' translated; 'This piece of writing is quite enjoyable, please continue your fine piece of work without any alterations, or I shall be ever-so displeased')  
  
So that's something I will work on. It'll sure help shorten this thing up a bit....  
By the way, here's something extra I whipped up. Enjoy  
** If you decided to take different groups into Balamb, here's what the conversations might look like whilst in Zell's abode.**

  


**Party: Squall/Zell/Rinoa**  
Squall: So this is Zell's room  
  
Rinoa: Looks at picture on shelf: Is that your grandfather, Zell?   
  
Zell: Yep! He's the person I look up to the most! He played a big role in the last war. He wasn't just strong. He knew when to attack, when to retreat… Any kind of situation, he maintained his composure and stayed cool…  
  
Squall: …So basically, the opposite of you.  
  
Zell: Yo, Squall!!! Why you dissin' me!?  
  
Rinoa laughs  
  
Rinoa: It's probably none of my business but… Maybe you're being a little too cool', Squall…?  
  
Squall: …  
  
Zell: Heh, heh, heh… She got you there Squall. Why don't you try to show a little more passion…? You know, like me!  
  
**Party: Squall/Selphie/Zell**  
Squall: So this is Zell's room.  
  
Zell: Don't go around touchin; everything, OK!? I like to keep things clean and…  
  
Selphie: Whoo-hoo!  
  
Zell: Yo! I just finished sayin' not to touch anything! And now you're on my bed!  
  
Selphie: Well, fine then! I didn't think you were so… anal. You should feel honored that a very, cute girl sat on your bed, you know! He should thank ME! Right Squall?  
  
Squall:  
  
-Maybe you're right  
  
Zell: You're siding with her, Squall…?  
  
Selphie: Wow! Now you're gettin' it, Squall! …And Zell just doesn't understand anything… (Plops down and lays, arms sprawled on Zell's bed)  
  
Zell: Y-Yo!  
  
-OR-  
  
Squall:  
  
-No, you're annoying him.  
  
Zell: Yeah, stop annoying me.  
  
Selphie(gets mad): So are you saying that I'm an annoying person!? (Looks around) That's it. squall and Zell, you're both going down a rank.  
  
Zell: WHAT!? You… you're kidding, RIGHT!?  
  
(FYI, I'm pretty sure that she will ACTUALLY take your SeeD rank down a notch if you choose the negative response in the game... Don't take my word on that though...)  
  
**Party: Squall/Zell/Irvine**  
Squall: So this is Zell's room  
  
Irvine: Well, it's not very interesting, hangin' out in a guys room anyway… Whoa! What is that!? These are some o' them old-school rifles!  
  
Zell: Those are my grandpa's! Don't even think about it.  
  
Irvine: Oh man oh man! These are so COOL!  
  
Zell: …heh heh… Well… Alright.. .Go ahead and check em out.  
  
Irvine somehow sets them off.  
  
Zell: YOOOO!! The HELL you doin'!!!?  
  
Squall: (….I knew he would…)  


***************************************************************************************************************************

  
  


  


  


  
  


  



	33. Chapter 32: Shiva

**Chapter 32**  
**Shiva.**  


  
Nights in Balamb were usually quiet, peaceful, with only the sound of the ocean lapping the shore to lull Balamb's population to sleep. Tonight was different though. The ocean could still be heard, and there was no noise in the street, but an air of uncertainty and fear loomed over each man, woman, and child in Balamb. As long as Galbadian soldiers were there, gloom clouded everyone's mind.  
  
Squall felt this uneasiness as well, as he lay on a small cot-mattress that Zell's mother had prepared for him. Zell was curled up with several blankets on the other side of his room, having begrudingly given his bed to Quistis for the night.  
  
Squalls thoughts blotted out sleep for the moment, as he once again assaimilated the events of the past days, weeks, and months.  
  
Again and again, questions arose. Frusterations along with them, for lack of an answer for every one. His mind drifted from one thought to the next. He thought about Ellone, about Seifer, about Rinoa, and even about Mayor Dobe of Fisherman's Horizon. However, one thought in-paticular continued to reappear, until it grabbed Squall's complete attention.  
  
_"The Guardian Forces..." _Squall thought. _"...I wonder what kind of impact they've had on my mind... ...things about Ellone I'm supposed to remember... How things keep seeming so familar to me, but just beyond the scope of my memory..."_  
  
Squall had hardly given any thought to his GFs in the past. Now that he sensed a connection between his appaent long-term memoery loss and the GF critic's theorys pointing to GF use as the cause of such symptoms. However, he had to wonder.  
  
_There must be a way to know for sure…_ Squall thought. _But it's not like anyone can speak with their GFs once they're junctioned…_  
  
Squall lifted his head at this thought. Can't speak with them'? But just more than a week ago in Fisherman's Horizon, hadn't he had a communique of some sort with… Shiva?  
  
_How could I have forgotten about that… _Squall wondered. _It was so odd… but… I distinctly heard her voice in my head. It was clear and …and even …calming…Should I attempt to … talk with them?_  
  
Squall pondered this for a moment. As unnerving as this was, the more he thouhgt about it, the more sense it made.  
  
_It's not as if they've never spoke… _Squall recalled. _But there's been NO reports of a GF sharing anykind of link with their summoner…If they have as much influence on our minds as GF critics would have us belive… is it possible that Shiva can commincate with me telepatheclly?_  
  
A voice suddenly sounded loudly out of Squall's mind. It echoed mysteriously.  
  
_As their journey presses forward, the summoners and their gaurdians gain fellowship of heart, and of mind. The mutal love that bonds one to one's friends becomes the asset of the summoner and his trusted gaurdians._  
  
Squall gasped in shock. he sat up and shot his eyes all over the room, almost hoping that Quistis or Zell was playing some kind of joke on him. He looked around, and saw them both. Zell huddled comfortablely in the corner, and Quistis, azure eyes closed in deep, peaceful sleep.  
  
Squall opened his mouth, to speak but was cut off by the voice which he had first heard.  
  
_You would attack with weapons the foe which remains hidden from you…? Or have your mortal mentors not taught you to alter your methods for the unusual?"_  
  
Squall snapped his mouth shut, confused. The voice was soft... that of a woman's. But somehow much more powerful than he could describe.  
  
_ "Thus child, do not strike blows at the wind with your questions… Speak to me with your thoughts... _the voice said again.  
  
Squall gulped nervously. He was scared… he quickly took note of which GF he had junctioned, and responded the way he was told…  
  
_Are you… Shiva? _he thought.  
  
Warmth and comfort somehow seemed to emit from the voice now.  
  
_That is the name by which many know me._  
  
Squall became eased now, but still slightly overwhelmed.  
  
_How is this possible…? Where are you at? …Have the others expirienced this with their GFs as well?_  
  
An feeling which could only be described as a smile, entered Squall's mind as Shiva replied.  
  
_You and your comrades will be the first in millenea to expirience such a bond… but your companions have yet to reach nessicery cognizance. The intensity with which they use us will be the key to unlocking the connection which you and I now posses._  
  
Squall's mind flurred with questions. One stood out in paticular.   
  
_…Is it true…_ he asked. _Is it true that you… use the places in our mind where memories are stored…? Is it true that you cause us… that you have cuased ME to forget things about my past?_  
  
Shiva's response was confusing.  
  
_…The bond IS dependant on rememberance, young one. But that is all I can tell you. You have known what it means to sacrafice… But I fear that you are not ready to know what curses are primed for the one whose bidding is the duty of guardians… What you must leave behind for our power, will present itself to you soon enough… _  
  
Shiva paused, noting Squall's confusion.  
  
_I cannot answer your question, for whereupon the answer should become no' or yes', the obligation to reveal the truth in it's entirty would fall to me… In turn, blame would be mine for the endangerment of your destiny yet unwrote, and risk that, I refuse to do. _  
  
Squall became frusterated. He didn't understand.  
  
_What do you mean? You won't tell me? Why not?! _Squall demanded.  
  
_Do not rouse your anger, and trust me as you always have _she replied reproachfully. _What I have told you is already too much for you to bare." _  
  
Squall wondered what she meant.  
  
_"So then, ease your heart, lest it prevail as victor over your reason… _  
  
Squall sighed deeply, glancing over to Quistis. She was still asleep. So was Zell.  
  
Squall remained frusterated, but respectufully awknowledged and abided by Shiva's words. They carried a tone of wisdom which he could only respect.  
  
__ Squall began, changing the topic. _Is this permanent… are you always going to be in my mind… every waking moment? …How do I explain this to the others? This is totally unheard of… what am I supposed to do now?_  
  
His mind remained quiet.  
  
_I'm sorry. _he began again. _ I have a lot of questions…_  
  
_Do not fret over such things. _Shiva assured him._ The connection remains active upon your summoning, or at my will, and I will not permeate your mind. And as to your friends… _She paused, expecting Squall to reply.  
  
_…What? My… friends…? You mean Quistis and everybody…? They aren't… I mean… that is to say… _Squall thoughts stuttered around, somewhat amiss.   
  
_I don't… really have…freinds… _he thought. But Shiva corrected him.  
  
_You spoke well to say, they are not', for not all are yet, and some are in fact more. But you are blinded of your own ignorance, child. You do not see the affect which they have over you…the relationship which you must recognize." ._  
  
She paused, as if examining Squall. She seemed preplexed by something.  
  
_You are contradiction itself… You have done the immpossible to open the bond with a guardian, and yet have not realized the more tangible love which surronds you. Tell me, child, how it is that you entrust me to guard your life... I, whom you have seen only as a tool of destruction... but you then decline to allow those close to you to carry the burdens which lay heavy on your heart and soul?_  
  
Squall was flushed with embaressment.  
  
_…it isn't like that… I … I don't have an answer… I don't… know… I don't understand…_  
  
Shiva's voice became more gentle now.  
  
_Beware that you do not ignore your inner feelings…Left unattended, they become ravinous animals, and shall kill from within…In anycase, I shall answer your query; Do not speak of our bond with anyone whose matter it is not…_  
  
_Please… stop being so vague… I understand so little already… _Squall interrupted. Shiva complied gracefully.  
  
_Very well. Your companions may share this amounst themselves, as they will shortly become aware of their guardian's presence as well. There are six of you who I count amoung this group, and you know of whom I speak…_  
  
__ Squall replied. _…That means Rinoa's in on this too, huh?_  
  
Shiva's voice responded in a tone of caution.  
  
_Mind your thoughts on this girl. She is both a hazard to you, and a boon. Keep her safe always._  
  
_What are you talking about? …Is something going to happen? What do you know?_ Squall asked.  
  
_Guardian Forces are not fortellers of events. That is immpossible, and any effort to do so would be false to our nature, and blasphemous towards the almighty... the one you know as 'Hyne'_ she replied. _We are only aids in time of physical need, and when we choose, mentors to those who are deserving. However, we have deeper insight into the affairs of the world and of the human mind than you can imagine… Heed my warnings, and you shall fare well. And now, I take my leave of your thoughts, and place you in your own care, young one._  
  
_But wait! I still… _Squall said, but it was too late. Shiva had severed the connection.  
  
Squall looked about Zell's left and right. He put his hand to his forehead, sweating nervously, and dropped his head to the floor.  
  
_THAT, was weird… _he thought.  
***************************************************************************************************************************  
  
The next morning, Squall decided to keep his conversation with Shiva to himself, at least for the time being.  
  
_"If I understood her correctly..." _he thought. _"That nullifies so much about what we thought we knew about GF junctioning..."_  
  
Squall pondered this as the sun rose through Zell's bedroom window. The light hit the wall right above Zell's bed, and crept down slowly onto Quistis face. Her eyes fluttered rapidly, and she muttered something incoherent, irritated at the light.   
  
Squall remained oblivious to the other two people in the room who were just waking up.   
  
_"She said that we would be the 'first in milenea' to have this kind of connection..." _Squall thought. _"So that means that GF junctioning was possible BEFORE Dr. Odine discovered... or RE-discovered it, I guess..."_  
  
Quistis had fully woken up now. She quickly sat up in Zell's bed, and combed back her hair before either Zell or Squall could notice the tangled mess it had become.  
  
_"...Everytime I sleep somewhere that isn't my room..." _Quistis thought with irritation. _"...I just toss and turn everywhere until my hair is an absoulute disaster... I wonder if Zell's mother will let me use their shower..."_  
  
Zell yawned loudly atop his pile of pillows and blankets which had served as his bed for the night. He stretched his arms until he heard the joints pop, and then scratched his head, smacking his mouth loudly.  
  
He gazed over to Squall and Quistis.  
  
"Mornin' Commander... " he said sleepily. "Mornin' Teach" he yawned at Quistis.  
***************************************************************************************************************************  
  
After Zell's mother had forced the three SeeDs to eat something before their early bolt out the door, Squall decided to return to a few spots, and continue to look for this 'captain'.  
Down at the docks, the two Galbadian soldeirs with their search-hound, were still at it, looking for clues. Squall paused for a moment, in confusion. It was almost as if they hadn't moved at all.  
  
Squall curiously approached the area they were searching once again, but suddenly stepped back in surprise as the Dog began barking loudly.  
  
Squall looked at one of the soldeirs with a confused expression on his face, expecting an explination.  
Suddenly, the dog leapt up, and ran away from the area it was supposed to search, up the streets of Balamb.  
  
The soldeir tried to grab at it's collar, but it was too late.  
  
"Looking for the captain again..." the soldeir mumbled irratibley. "...dumb dog.  
  
Squall shot his eyes up at this. The captain? ...Would the dog find him?  
  
Squall, Quistis and Zell were all still fairly tired from the other day, so he didn't want to start chasing the dog without being sure that it would lead them to the captain.  
  
Squall approached the Galbadian soldeir.  
  
"....Did you say something about the captain?" he asked. The Galbadian soldier looked at Squall curiously.  
  
"The captain?" he asked. "It's the captain's naptime now! Oops, ah… I mean… he's on patrol now!" he hastily corrected himself. "He's a very hard worker. Always out patrolling! So don't bother him!"  
  
Squall shook his head in irritation, and motioned for Quistis and Zell to follow him. They were going to find this 'Captain', NOW.  
  
The three tried to figure out which way the dog had gone, as they moved up the street. Suddenly, they heard barking in the direction of the train station.  
  
"Let's go." Squall ordered.  
  
As they approached the sation, Squall saw the search-hound climbing the stairs to the train platform, and run inside.  
  
Once they got in, Squall looked around for soldeir's. He found one, clutching his stomach, and leaning against one of the rails.  
  
"Ughhh" the soldeir mumbled. "I thought it smelled funny… Ughh… C-Captain.. how could you? How could you do this to us…?"  
  
Squall noted another soldeir just a few feet away, in a similar position.  
  
"C-captain… Fish… N…I feel Numb…" the soldier said.  
  
Both soldeirs collapsed on the ground, in pain. The dog sniffed the one closest to Squall, Quistis and Zell, and then began barking loudly again. it ran inside on of the trains, and started growling furiously inside.  
  
"What is going on?" Squall said aloud.  
  
Back to dock, then to train station  
  
Suddenly, a familar figure flew out of the back of the train clumsily, crashing his way out of the station platform. It was a young, dark skinned man with a muscular build, and an open-chest, blue vest.  
  
Squall blinked in surprise at who it was. Finally! They'd found Raijin. Now to follow him, and find Fujin.  
  
"It's Raijin! …Come on!" Squall cried.  
  
As they exited the platform, Squall thought for a moment.  
  
_"Wait a minute... didn't the soldeir say that the dog was looking for the captain?... that can't be Raijin! .... can it?"_  
  
Squall walked up to the nearest Galbadian soldier he could find.  
  
"Hey, can you tell me about the guy who just ran past here with that dog?" Squall asked him.  
  
The soldeir cleared his throat nervously, and looked around, as if trying to come up with an answer.  
  
Well…ah…it's like this" the soldier finally admitted. "…Raijin's the right hand man of Seifer, who's serving as the sorceress' knight. So basically… we're nothing compared to him!"  
  
Squall narrowed his eyes, looking down the street that Raijin had ram down.  
  
_"I can't belive it." _Squall thought.  
***************************************************************************************************************************  
  
As Squall, Quistis, and Zell followed quickly followed Raijin, Squall heard the soldeir's that they passed whispering.  
"Looks like the captain made it back to the headquarters before the commander could get upset with him." one said. "The commander can be pretty scary when she's mad…"  
  
Something about the discription of the commander clicked on Squall's mind as familiar, but he didn't give it any heed. Squall focused on catching up to Raijin.  
  
They soon reached the front walk of the Balamb hotel, where the two soldeir's responsible for the wild-goose chase looked nervously into the now opened hotel.  
  
One noticed Squall and the others, and put his hands up.  
  
"Hey, you! Stand back. This could be dangerous! The commander's just about to…"  
  
But he was cut off quickly with aloud yelp, and a crumpled mass of muscle screeching across the stone walkway.  
  
"YEOWW!" Raijin screamed. he lay on the street, clutching his chest in pain. There were several bright red marks on him which would surely bruise over.  
  
"Ouuuch…" he winced, trying to get on his feet. He moaned as he limped about.  
  
"F-Fujin…" he said nervously. "C-Control your temper, ya know? I was patrollin' , just like ya told me. I even woke up the search dog, sleepin' on the job, ya know?"  
  
Raijin suddenly turned to the two soldeirs pleadingly.  
  
"You guys help me out here!" he begged. "We've gotta calm Fujin down, ya know!?"  
  
All three of them gazed inside of the hotel with fear. Raijin was getting his energy back, but he and the soldeirs were scared stiff.  
  
Zell couldn't watch this anymore.  
  
"RAIJIN!!!" Zell immpatietly cried out.  
  
Raijin turned aroudn quickly in surprise. His face lit up with happiness and confusion.  
  
"Wooooow! What are you guys doin' here!?" he asked.  
  
Zell threw back his hand in a agreesive gesture.   
  
_"If Raijin and Fujin are REALLY alligned with Edea... They're goin' down!" _Zell thought.  
  
"We're here to liberate Balamb, ya know!?" he yelled. "…I mean… uhh… We're here to liberate Balamb!"  
  
The Soldeirs took a step back in surprise. They looked at each other nervously beneath their blue helmets. They knew what the consequences of their letting enimies roam freely throughout their base was.  
  
Raijin smirked and narowed his eyes at this. It was expression that neither Squall, Quistis or Zell had ever seen on him before... This menacing glare backed by that knowing smile was quite disconcerting. Raijin folded his arms cockily.  
  
"Seifer told us to give you a whoppin' if we saw you, ya know!" he said harshly. He truend to the Soldeir's as he pulled out his attack staff.  
  
"You soldeirs help me out, too!" he cried, lunging towards the trio of SeeDs.  
  
Zell readied his fists and spat.  
  
"You'll pay for this, Raijin!" he screamed.  
  
Squall removed his gunblade from it's sheath, and Quistis unravaled her whip.  
  
Raijin launched himself toward Zell furiously. His staff's mass was increased at both ends to inflict heavier blows. It was heavy, but Raijin's strength was more then enough to handle the weapon.   
  
Zell swung his torso down in a drunken-boxing style to avoid the heavy swings being directed at him. As he came back around in a ducked position, His right fist struck sqaurely into Raijin's stomach.  
  
Raijin was taken aback, but merely spun his staff around skillfully, and started laughing.  
  
"Bwahaha!" he yelled. "Rock solid, ya know!" Raijin pounded his fist on his massive abdomen.  
  
Zell merely huffed with irritation. He ran at Raijin furiously, unleashing a wave of punches and kicks.  
  
Raijin winced at each blow. He was finally able to break free of Zell's combo, and began twirling his staff and an incredible speed.  
  
"Hehheh..." he laughed. "How do ya like this?"   
  
Raijin's staff came spinning at Zell with incredible speed and force. It clocked him on his shoulder, knocking him to the ground. Zell was stunned, but fortunatly had just enough energy to bring his glove-gaurded fist up, blocking the staff's opposite end from hitting his face.   
  
Zell smirked, looking up at Raijin, who was standing atop him, ready to strike again. Raijin looked at him oddly.  
  
"What's so funny?!" He cried.   
  
Zell continued smileing.  
  
"This, ya know." he said. And with that, Zell's right leg swung across Raijin's shins, bringing him to the ground.  
  
"Hey! No fair, ya know!" Raijin cried, trying to bring himself up again.  
  
The soldiers kept Squall and Quistis from assisting Zell. They struggled with the SeeDs as friecly as they could.  
  
Squall's gunblade and the soldeir's Para-magic sword were locked together for the moment.  
  
"Squall! Here!" Quistis yelled. She had broke free from the soldeir attacking her just long enough to cast a 'Sleep' spell on one of the Galbadians. As the soldeir's energy waned, Squall merely shoved him over, and he lay on the ground in a crumbled heep, sleeping.  
  
Squall now turned his attention to the other soldeir, swinging wildly. He sliced through the soldeir's armor, disconnecting his Para-magic system instantly, as well as limiting the attack mobilty of the soldeir's uniform.  
  
Quistis looked at Zell and Raijin's struggle. Zell looked as if his energy was waning, but he attacked with strong resolve nonetheless.  
  
She took advantage of Raijin's preoccupation with Zell, and sliced her whip into Raijin's backside.  
  
"ARGGHH!" Raijin cried. With that, Zell launched his fist back into Rajin's jaw one last time, bringing Rajin to his knees.  
  
Rajin held his hand up before all three of the SeeDs could finish him off.  
  
"Uhg, ya got me, ya know…" he said, collapsing on the street.  
  
Raijin was face first in the street, breathing heavily, injured and exhausted  
  
Zelljumped up happily.  
  
"OHHHH YEAHHH!" he cried, swinging his fists about. "The commander's gonna get a whoopin', too!"  
  
Quistis and Squall followed Zell as he ran impulsivly into the hotel lobby. They had a feeling that the liberation of Balamb was hanging in the balance of these battles.  
  
As the SeeDs entered the hotel lobby, there was only one person inside. A young woman with short, silvery hair, and an eyepatch.  
  
Fujin  
  
"So I guess you're the commander!" Zell yelled at her.  
  
"Pack your bags and get the hell outta Balamb!" He continued.  
  
Fujin cupped her hand over her mouth in nervous surprise.  
  
"…RAIJIN, DEFEATED…?" she exclaimed.  
  
"That's right, BABY!" Zell asserted. "Now, where's Seifer and the sorceress!? You're all goin' DOWN!"  
  
Zell began punching the air excitedly, breathing heavily.  
  
Squall rolled his eyes.  
  
"Zell, calm down." he commanded. He turned towards Fujin, calmly.  
  
"Fujin, looks like you're on your own. Are you still willing to fight?"  
  
Fujin looked behind the three, and her expression changed suddenly from one of unsureness, to one of confidence  
  
"RAGE!" she cried in a commanding tone.  
  
"BWAHA HA HA HA !!" a voice rang out. "She's not alone!"  
  
Zell turned his head slightly  
  
"W-Who's there!?" he asked, confused.  
  
Raijin suddenly appeared, and ran up to Fujin's side.  
  
"Major come-back, ya know!" he said, pounding his chest. "Actually, I feel a lot better, ya know! I feel invincible, ya know!"  
  
Zell's eyes widened in shock.   
  
"How the…!? I thought we defeated you!"  
  
Raijin shook his head, smirking  
  
"Time to get serious, ya know!?" he cried.  
  
Fujin removed her circular weapon from her belt, and readied it to attack.  
  
"ELLONE WHERE?" she demanded.  
  
Sqaull merely shook his head.  
  
"We're not giving away any information unless you agree to come to Garden" Squall said.   
  
Fuijin's tossed her weapon towards Squall. He could hear it slice through the air, and just barely moved in time to miss it. Fujin's weapon was called a pinwheel, a boomerang-like disc with razor baldes and edges attached to it. It was normally used by assasins, and outlawed in most countries. At Garden, she trained with this weapon behind the Garden staff's backs, as Garden prohibbited the use of it.  
  
Quistis decided that it was time to use 'Scan'. Fujin and Raijin may not have been SeeDs, but physically, they exceeded all qualifications. To Quistis surrpise, Fujin had been endowed with a Guardian Force, one which enhanced Fujin's ability to use wind magic in paticular.  
  
"Squall! Zell! Watch out for Tornando!" Quistis cried. But it was too late. Fujin had already began forming the energy.  
  
Squall, Quistis, and Zell were all lifted into the air by an immense gust of wind. As the air's power decreased, the three teenagers looked down to the ground, bracing for an impact.  
  
Squall rolled as he hit, and dragged his gunblade with him. He was able to get close enough to Fujin to knock her to the ground, and begin the drawing process. he too, had noticed Fujin's GF, and he didn't want to take any chances against them. If he could remove that threat, they might not have to kill either Fujin and Raijin.  
  
Zell and Raijin started to exchange blows just as forcefully as they had in the previous battle.  
  
"Ouch! Not bad, ya know!?" Raijin cried as Zell once again landed a a punch to his face.  
  
As Squall completed drawing Fujin's GF, she suddenly noticed that it was gone. She became nervous  
  
Quistis took the oppurtunity to strike. Her whip lassoed around Fujin's legs, bringing her to the ground with a loud thud.  
  
Fujin got loose and looked back and forth at Quistis and Raijin. She finally gave up  
  
"I…WITHDRAW. RAIJIN, GO." she said, encouraging Raijin to continue. Fujin, however, discontinued her attacks.  
  
Squall was now dodging Raijin's staff. He finally brought his gunblade around, and with the scream of metal, cut Raijin's staff in two. Zell finished up the assault by shoving Raijin to the ground forcefully.  
  
Raijin bent down on one knee, breathing heavily.   
  
"Fujin, I lost too, ya know…" he said, exasperated.  
  
Squall motioned for Fujin to put down her weapon, and as she did so he sheathed his sword.  
  
He looked on at them contemplativly for a moment.  
  
"Are the two of you taking orders from the sorceress?" he finally asked.  
  
Fujin stood at attention, and with a tone of tone of contempt, answered.  
  
"NEGATIVE!"  
  
Raijin spoke up as well.  
  
"The sorceress has nothin' to do with us, ya know!? We're acting on our own!"  
  
Squall raised an eyebrow at this.  
  
"Own plan…?"  
  
Raijin further explained, somewhat sheepishly  
  
"We're on Seifer's side, ya know!"  
  
Squall thought about this for a second.   
  
" …That's up to you, but…" he replied. "Enough is Enough. This isn't an internal Garden conflict."  
  
Raijin and Fujin merely looked at the ground at this comment.  
  
"We can't back out now, ya know…" Raijin mumbled.  
  
Fujin shook her head with resolve, but her expression betrayed her.  
  
"NEGATIVE" she said.  
  
Raijin looked up at Squall, a worried expression on his face.  
  
"Seifer has a lot of followers, but we're his only friends… we're a posse, ya know…?" he tried to explain. "The Galbadian soldeirs are only listening to Seifer cause they fear the sorceress. Without us, Seifer wouldn't have a posse, ya know…?"  
  
Zell put his hand to his forehead. He started to feel sorry for them, but their actions still didn't make sense.  
  
"If you guys stand behind him that much…Tell frickin' Seifer to stop this nonsense!" he exclaimed.  
  
Fuin and Raijin looked at each other, contemplating the suggestion.  
  
"AFFIRMATIVE!" Fujin suddenly cried, as if understanding Raijin's thoughts.  
  
Raijin turned to Squall and the others.  
  
"We ain't no sell-outs! We're behind Seifer all the way, ya know!?" he said difiantly.  
  
Squall shrugged, somewhat dissapointed.  
  
"Ok… Understood. So you want nothing to do with Garden now?" he asked.  
  
Both Fujin and Raijin noded reluctantly.  
  
Squall glared at them, wanting to be sure.  
  
" …From now on, we're not gonna hold back." he explained. Squall sighed.  
  
_" …I guess that's how it goes. That's what comrades are all about…" _he thought to himself.  
  
Quistis had been taking everything in, but couldn't belive that Fujin and Raijin were really going to go with Seifer this far.  
  
"Wait a minute!" she cried. "Don't you two want to think about..."  
  
Raijin put up his hand  
  
"Don't wanna... talk anymore, ya know…" he was breathing hard, like something was broken. "Kinda painful… ya know…"  
  
Fujin huffed in irritation at this. She kicked her brother's shin.  
  
"WIMP! RUN!" she yelled.  
  
Both Fujin and Raijin ran out of the hotel. Squall could here them outside, giving orders to soldeir's.   
  
"We're leavin' ya know!"  
  
"OCCUPATION, OVER!"  
  
Quistis looked to the ground sadly  
  
"…It's too bad" she said whisfully.  
  
Squall turned to face her.  
  
"Friend or foe… It all comes down to circumstance. That's how we were raised." he explained. But even as he said it, his feelings made him unsure about that logic.  
"It's …nothing special." he finished.  
  
Squall just felt uncomfortable after that, however. As if he couldn't even make himself pretend that he belived that line of reasoning anymore.  
  
_"Nothing special… Is that true? Then… What is this I'm feeling?" _he thought. He shook his head, frusterated for lack of an answer.  
  
"Let's go" he commanded.  
***************************************************************************************************************************  
  
Leaving Balamb was even easier than getting in. All Galbadian personel were packing, or leaving their posts. Most had already caught the train to Timber at this point, to report back to Galbadia.  
  
Zell stopped by his house, and a few others to make sure that everyone was alright. By this time, everyone had heard of the 'defeat of the captain and commander by three brave SeeDs', so many people wanted to talk with Zell on his way out of town. But Squall urged him to leave quickly.   
  
On the Garden Bridge, everyone seemed a bit solom. Squall and Quistis and arrived, but neither seemed to be in a mood for conversation.  
  
"Where are we going next? Quistis asked quietly.  
  
Suddenly, the elevator lowered, and rose again with someone on top of it. It was Selphie  
  
"Hello, s'cuse me!" she said in a cheerful tone.  
  
Squall turned to see her, and was surrpised. He hadn't heard from her in a few days, at least.  
  
"What is it?" he asked calmly.  
  
Selphie walked onto the main platform causiously, and placed her hand on Squall's arm shyly.  
  
"Have you decided on a destination?" she asked.  
  
Squall shook his head.   
  
"Still thinking" he replied.  
  
"um… Can we maybe go to Trabia Garden?" Selphie pelaed. "It's like… in the mountains, so maybe the sorceress will leave it alone… But maybe… You know?"  
  
Squall narrowed his eyes, confused.  
  
_"But I thought it was destoryed by missiles. Oh, I see… that's why. Of course she'd want to go."_  
  
Squall nodded reassuringly.  
  
"I'll keep that in mind." he replied as warmly as he knew how.  
  
Selphie smiled wisfully.  
  
"Thanks" she said. She turned around, and went back down the Bridge elevtor.  
  
Quistis sighed.  
  
"Selphie… She's trying hard to act cheerful" she observed.  
  
Nida turned around, to Squall.  
  
"Are we ready to ship out?" he asked.  
  
Squall nodded.  
  
" ….. Head north." he commanded.

  
***************************************************************************************************************************  
End Chap 32.   
  
Two long chapters in Balamb. I sure thought that these were boreing, but I hope they suited their purpose.  
Next chapter, things really start coming together. 33 is set to be another large one, but I bet you won't be able to put it down! ...er... stop scrolling ... through it...  
. . .  
Anyway, it's called 'memories in Trabia Garden', and it promises to be one of the most engaging chapters so far.  
***************************************************************************************************************************  


  


  
  


  
  


  


  



	34. Chapter 33: It Was All in the Past Memor...

**Chapter 33**  
**It Was All In The past;**  
**Memories In Trabia Garden**

  
Day's went by quickly in Balamb Garden, as it made it's journey north. Selphie Tilmett couldn't wait to see her former home, but on the other hand, she was nervous at the uncertainty of what she might find upon her return. Wanting more days to prepare herself for the shock, of course, cuased time to move all the more quickly.  
  
Once Garden had put some distance between itself and Balamb, Nida announced an aproximate E.T.A.* of four days until they reached Trabia Garden. Now, two days later, they were three-forths of the way there. They'd learned that the Garden was more than prepaed for ocean travel, and was faster than most boats. Not only that, but the thick underside of Garden, and it's abiltiy to hover over solid ground made it niegh immpenatrable. No iceberg or other obstruction could stop the hovering structure.  
  
_"We're moving too fast..." _ Selphie thought to herself. She was in her dorm room, sitting on her bed in her usual fasion, feet pointed away from each side, and upper-legs pressed together. She clutched a large stuffed-moogle close to her chest, and rested her head atop of it.   
  
_"I wonder what happened... to my Garden"_ she wondered. Selphie was well aware that Galbadian missiles had been launched towards Trabia. She was there when it happened. As eager as she was to know if everyone was still OK, if they weren't, Selphie didn't know if she could take it.  
  
Selphie had left behind a lot of friends in Trabia. She'd quickly grown accustomed to Balamb's Garden, and couldn't imagine leaving even before the sorceress problem came into the picture, but Trabia was where she'd spent some of the happiest times of her life as a child, nearly as far back as she could remember.  
  
_"What if everyone's.... DEAD?!"_ Selphie continued her thoughts. She immediatly tried to force the idea away, but it was far too late. She felt her bottem lip start to quiver, and her bright green eyes start to glisten with tears. The unusually cheerful Selphie Tilmett, for the first time in a long time, buried her face into her stuffed animal, and began sobbing uncontrolably. She attempted to muffle the sound of her wails in the fabric of her moogle, but it couldn't be helped.   
  
Suddenly, to Selphie's dismay, she heard a loud, quick knocking at the door.  
  
"Oh no..." Selphie worried. For some reason, sadness was the only emotion she couldn't stand to have people see her express. She was afriad of it.   
  
She quickly began wiping tears away.  
  
"Um... J-just a m-m-m-mo... Just a m-m-moment..." she stuttered. She was still sobbing pretty hard, and it was immpossible to hide with her voice.  
  
A voice sounded from the other side of the door.  
  
"Selphie? Is that you?" the voice asked. It was Rinoa. "What's wrong?! I'm coming in!"  
  
Selphie stared at the door in fear. She lost her breath immediatly, as she heard and watched the door slowly slide open.  
  
Rinoa had slide a small hairpin into Selphie's door's locking mechanism, and forced the door open the rest of the way herself.  
  
She stood there, gazing at Selphie in confusion for a moment, before she realized what was going on.  
  
"Selphie!" Rinoa exclaimed. She immediatly ran over to the bed and sat down next to Selphie.  
  
"What's wrong?" she asked. "Are you alright? Why are you crying? Did Irvine do something to you?"  
  
Selphie merely turned her head away, and sniffed.  
  
"No... I'm fine... I j-j-just..." Selphie began, but she she couldn't hold back the sobs. She turned to face Rinoa, her expression of utter sadness right out there for her to see.  
  
"Oh... Selphie...." Rinoa said. She put her arms around Selphie, trying to comfort her. Selphie released her moogle, and embraced Rinoa, sobbing openly.  
  
"You're worried about your friends in Trabia Garden, aren't you?" Rinoa asked in a soft voice. She could barely make out Selphie's reply through the sobs. She almost seemed to be hypervenalating.  
  
"Y-y-y-y-y-y-yes..." Selphie replied. "I-i-i-i-i-i-i d-d-don't know w-w-what to do..."  
  
"I'm sure they'll be alright..." Rinoa said. She smiled at Selphie. "They're all fighters, right? Even if the Garden was hit... You'll still have people there waiting for you..."  
  
Selphie calmed down a bit now, and sniffed loudly.   
  
"...Y-you think so?" she asked, hopeful. "I mean, I know the m-missiles probably hit and everything, but..."  
  
Rinoa smiled a warm, reassuring smile.   
  
"I know so." she said.  
  
Selphie smiled back through the tears, and gave Rinoa a tight squeez.  
  
"Thank you Rinoa..." she said, resembeling her old, cheerful self once again. "I needed to hear that... Sorry for...getting your shoulder all wet"  
  
"Hey," Rinoa replied. "At least you can share your feelings about things... unlike meanie Squall!"  
  
Selphie grinned wide at this and began giggleing loudly.  
  
"Teehee-hee-hee! Rinoa!" she exclaimed. Rinoa chuckled slightly as well.  
  
"Feeling better?" Rinoa asked.  
  
Selphie just smiled calmly.  
  
"You're a good friend, Rinoa."  
  
*(ETA= Estimated Time of Arrival)  
***************************************************************************************************************************  
  
Shortly, Garden had reached the northern continent of Trabia. Squall ordered all open area's to be locked off due to the extremely cold weather. The last thing they needed was for Garden students to start getting ill, or worse... making a mess of Garden by playing in the snow.  
  
Up on the bridge, Squall had Selphie assiting Nida in locating Trabia Garden. It was carefully tucked behind a mountaint range, so it provided a great defensive position if ever the entire Garden was under assualt, but it was also hard to find.  
  
Even so, in a matter of hours, the Garden had been found. But as they got closer to the structure, more and more of the damage could be seen.  
  
Squall gathered everyone to prepare for another outing. Quistis had recomended to him that everyone come to suport Selphie, even Rinoa. Squall couldn't see an reason why they all shouldn't go. They were the ones, after all, who had witnessed the missiles being launched in the first place.  
***************************************************************************************************************************  
  
The winds blew slowly, but strong, pushing each snowflake through the air with a soft force. As the six teenagers approached Trabia Garden in the snowy valley, all looked at the front gate with shock and awe. Even Squall's stoic expression changed to a disturbed surprise.  
  
"Looks pretty bad" he said. Squall brushed some of the snow from his hair. He shofted his feet, sinking his heavy boots deeper into the thick snowy ground beneath him.  
  
The front gate of Trabia Garden hardly what it once was. The gates had been fused together by the explosive heat of the missiles, and metal slag had dripped over the walls, cooling quickly, and shutting the doors to Trabia Garden, seemingly forever.  
  
Sephie examined the wall carefully, with concern.  
  
"A direct.hit?" she asked, unsure.  
  
She looked to Squall, but he merely shrugged. The damage looked incredible from the outside, but that was almost no indication of how the inside might have been affected.  
  
Quistis sighed heavily.  
  
".This is terrible" she exclaimed.  
  
Zell shook his head  
  
" .Man, this really pisses me off!" he cried.  
  
Irvine and Rinoa were both disturbed as well.  
  
"This has got to be bad" Irvine said.  
  
Rinoa cupped her hand over her mouth the enitire time.  
  
".Terrible" she whispered.  
  
Selphie was oblivious to all of their comments however. She had a serious expression on her face, her eyes narrowing in determination. Selphie put her hand above her eyes, blocking the sun so she could see better. She took a few steps back to try and get a look at the top of the gate.  
  
Selphie ran back up close to the gate, and noticed that a rope ladder of sorts had been placed over the wall. A sign of survivors.  
  
" .I'm going in" Selphie said. She looked to Squall for input.  
  
Squall nodded  
  
"Be careful" he said, taking note of the ladder. "We'll follow in a minute."  
  
Selphie scurried up the wall as quickly as she could. Irvine attempted to move in closer to the ladder, but Zell grabbed his collar.  
  
"No way." he said firmly. "You sicko. This isn't the time for that."  
  
Irvine looked truly hurt.   
  
"...What did you think I was trying to do?! I'm just following Selphie!"  
  
"Yeah, right!" Zell yelled. "You just..."  
  
"ENOUGH" Squall commanded. "She's already in, so let's go ahead and follow her."  
***************************************************************************************************************************  
  
As they came down from the ladder, the remaining five looked on at the remains of Trabia Garden. The whole area looked more like it'd been hit by an earthquake than missiles. But considering the circumstances, the grounds themselves seemed to have faired well enough to have survivors. In fact, Squall thought he saw a lot of movement in the distance.   
  
One thing that they all noticed too, was that it was no longer snowing.  
  
"Hey, what happened to the snow?" Rinoa suddenly asked.  
  
Squall looked up, and thought a moment.  
  
"Look just above the walls of the Garden" Squall started. "You can still see the snow, but there's some kind of electromagnetic field keeping it out of the Garden."  
  
Zell looked confused.  
  
"What? What are you talking about?"  
  
Squall sighed.  
  
"Trabia Garden focuses a lot on technology... They developed a way to keep the artificial environment conditioning from being affected by the snow, by keeping it out with a force field" Squall explaiend. "It's pretty ingenius. I'm amazed that it survived the missile attack... might even be the reason they faired as well as they did."  
  
Irvine looked up to the sky, tipping up his hat.  
  
"...You're right, except for one thing" he inserted. "The force field only protects the Garden around the upper sides, becuase the device they developed can't create a full dome" Irvine explained. "So there isn't any protection directly above us. But most of the time, the weather is too cold, and too harsh for the snow to be falling straight down anyway, so it doesn't matter. The winds always hits the Garden at an angle becuase they're so strong."  
  
Irvine looked back down at the ground, solomnly.  
  
"But once in a great while... the weather will calm down just enough... a light breeze will find it's way into the Garden... and the snow will fall ever so softly, right into Garden..." Irvine turned to the group smileing as he paused.  
  
"The students call it a 'gift' from the faieries. It's really calming... beautiful even" he said. "...Or so I hear."  
  
The other four teenagers looked towards to sky as they listened to Irvine's explaination. It sounded quite interesting...  
  
"I'm sure Selphie's seen that happen..." Quistis said. "I wonder what it's like..."  
  
Zell suddenly came to at this. He remembered that Selphie had run off ahead. He tapped Squall on the shoulder.  
  
"Hey, are you sure we should just let her go on ahead like that?"  
  
Squall turned to him.  
  
"She's fine. I'm sure she wants to go investigate things on her own right now" Squall said.  
  
_"I would" _he thought.  
  
"I bet you she's in shock." Irvine inserted. "Come on, let's go after her. Selphie's in shock, I'm sure of it. She's not herself. Haven't you noticed, Squall? I should say something to comfort her."  
  
Squall raised an eyebrow at Irvine. Unlike before, he seemed geuinuily concerned now, even nervous about Selphie.  
  
Quistis looked around the grounds. The teenagers once again became aware of the massive destruction around them.  
  
"To think that Balamb Garden might have ended up like this." she said, still shocked at the sight of destruction. "Thank goodness we were able to avoid the missiles. I only wish we could have stopped the missiles against Trabia Garden."  
  
Zell slammed his fist to the ground.  
  
"To tell you the truth, I was shocked when I found out Balamb was occupied." Zell explaiend. "I think I understand how Selphie feels. I betcha this Garden was really livley too."  
  
All of the SeeDs remained quiet. The nessesity for a moment of silence for a fallen Garden seemed to arise in each of them... Not for the sake of SeeD, and not for their loyalty to Garden... but becuase the Gardens were homes. This one had been destoryed.  
  
Rinoa broke the solomn quiet.  
  
"So this is where Selphie grew up?" she asked, somewhat nervously. She was really just trying to keep everyone talking. "I'm sure Selphie wanted to come by sooner. I hope she's all right."  
  
Rinoa remembered the conversation gher and Selphie'd had about a day ago, and the way she'd found Selphie, crying in her room. Rinoa hadn't told anyone about it yet, and she didn't know if she was going to... Selphie wanted to be seen as a happy, energetic person. Sometimes, it seemed like that was all that kept her going, and Rinoa gave a great deal of respect to that, as she often kept her hopes up in the same way... staying positive, and trying to keep the people around you happy.  
  
"C'mon." Squall commanded to the group. They set out to search for Selphie, and to view the damage done to Garden.  
  
As they progressed through the cracked and broken plates which were once the main walkway of Trabia Garden, they began to see people amoungst the wreckage. To their surprise, they observed students causually talking, and a few fixing hazards here and there. Though they looked tired, and dirty from the damage to Garden, they seemed almost happy. Most didn't even pay Squall and the others any heed.  
  
The group continued on, relived to discover how well Trabia's staff and students had been dealing with the disaster. But there was no denieing that the death toll had probably reached a staggering number during the missile attack.  
  
They soon appraoched a central are to the main walkways of the damaged Garden. A broken fountain tilted to the right there, and they found a Garden student sitting on it. The girl was wearing a pair of old green pants and a blue-sleeved shirt. In front of her, was Selphie, joking and speaking happily. The girl had hair almost like Selphie's, but not nearly as exagerated. They looked like they could be sisters.  
  
Selphie turned to see Squall and the others there, and she grinned happily, grabbing his hand and pulling him over to introduce her friend to Squall.  
  
Squall didn't say anything, not understanding immediatly what Selphie was doing, but her friend spoke first.  
  
"So you've been looking after Selphie?" she asked rethorically. But Squall was confused at this.  
  
"Not really" he replied indifferently. He considered the idea for a moment... Selphie? Relying on him...? It was true in a way. He was in charge of Garden, but he'd had nothing to do with their escape from the Galbadia military base... That was all Selphie's doing.  
  
Selphie's friend became indignant at this. Her eyes widened and she opened her mouth wide, about to yell at Squall, but Selphie interjected.  
  
"Oh, don't worry about him. That's just the way he is." she said, giggleing slightly.  
  
Selphie's friend smiled at this. She eyed Squall curiously for a moment. This made Squall uncomfortable.  
  
"Maybe it's his way of hiding his feelings for you?" she finally said.  
  
Selphie's eyes brightened up at this, and she giggled loudly.  
  
"Yeah! Right on!" she cheered.  
  
_"Whatever." _Squall thought.  
  
Selphie began speaking with her friend a bit more, seeming to ignore Squall and the others. quall tapped her on the shoulder though.  
  
Selphie started speaking to huim before he could get the words out though.  
  
"There should be a basketball court in the back." she started. "Wait for me there, ok? I want to catch up with some of my friends."  
  
Squall was about to object, but he realized that there was no reason not to wait. Besides that, demanding that they rush this might seem insensitive... And Squall didn't want to incure Rinoa's 'wrath' again.  
  
Selphie waved goodbye to her friend, and ran off to explore the rest of her former home. Selphie's friend sighed happily as she watched Selphie walk away.  
  
"I'm so glad I saw Selphie" said, looking at Squall and the others. "I feel a lot more cheerful after talking to her!"  
  
Irvine smiled at the girl.   
  
"Yes... Selphie seems to have that effect on people" he agreed. Squall interupted before he could get a conversation started however.  
  
"We're going to look around for a few minutes and find our way to the Basketball court" Squall said. "Let's go."  
  
As Squall led the troop of five teenagers towards the back of the wreckage of the Garden, a older gentleman approached them.  
  
"Young lad." the man said. He was a Trabia faculty member. He began asking Squall questions.  
  
"What was you name and number again? Have you done a good dead for your academy, Trabia garden?"  
  
Squall looked perplexed.   
  
"Good deed?" he asked. "We're not..." But the teacher innterupted him.  
  
"Good deed you ask? It's to help rebuild this place! Let's see..." the old man thought for a moment. "For example, have you donated to the Trabia fund? I'll give you an A."  
  
Squall had all of his SeeD funds in his dorm room, and didn't have any spare gil in his pockets, so he shook his head and merely walked away, without giving an explination.  
  
As the group made their way to the far back corner of the wreckage, they began noticing several bunks set up in small apartment-like nooks. Students were either resting in the bunks, weary from all that'd happened, or helping remove rubble and other debre from the ground. Squall gazed about curiously, and noticed a disturbingly interesting sight to the right... Half of a classroom remained from the missle attack, it's insides exposed to the rest of the Garden. Squall could see the black chared edges of the wall. He led Rinoa, Irvine, Quistis and Zell over to the class. to his surprise, there were students working there.  
  
A girl in a yellow skirt was calculting some figures on a piece of paper. She noticed Squall looking over her shoulder, and tunred to smile at him.  
  
"Ok, let's do our best to calculate our food and daily supplies! The calculator's broken, too, so we have to be extra careful. Ok, do you remember how to multiply.?" she tilted her head, questioning Squall. He merely glared at her strangly.   
  
The girl started multiplying outloud."1X1=1, 1X2=2."   
  
Squall huffed in irritation, and began walking away from the girl. She stopped and looked at him  
  
".. Just kidding!" she yelled. "Sheesh! Take a joke."  
  
There were three other students in the classroom as well. One male student in a blue shirt was examinging a book he'd found in the rubble, while two others were busy replacing some hardware in the classroom's main computer, amazingly still working after the attack. They were bent under the control modual and hard drive storage space, rewiring and reprogramming the system.  
  
The student in a light blue uniform noticed the five newcomers, and looked at them strangly. He didn't recognize them  
  
"Hey. Who are you guys?" he called to them. Squall walked over and began introducing himself.  
  
"We're SeeDs from Balamb Garden" Squall explained. "We're here to see how bad you guys were hit... Looks like you're getting thigns under control fairly qucikly, considering the circumstances."  
  
The student smield in appriciation.  
  
"Yeah, well, you know what they say. Disasters bring out the best and worst in people... thankfully, all the students and faculty have pulled together to get things running again."  
  
"What're you guys doing here?" Squall asked, still amazed that any computer network could have survived the attack. The student looked down at the computer parts laying before him.  
  
"Oh... I'm Lank... and this is Port." he pointed to the stuent beneath him, working on the computer. "We're Trabia's tech squad. We all devided up into different sqauds to utilize each of our specialties" he explained. "We're just getting this system up and running again."  
  
The other student working on the computer spoke up now, from underneath the control panel.  
  
"Leave this baby to me. I'll have it up and running in no time. We're the tech squad!" he exclaimed.  
  
Squall took a look at the monitor for the computer they were working on. Suddenly, a flashign green light started blinking on the keyboard. Impulsivly, Squall hit the button right beneath it, and the moniter flashed on with a loud buzzing sound.  
  
Lank looked up at the moniter with surprise.  
  
"OH!!! Is it up!?" he exclaimed excitedly.  
  
Port dusted his hands off and sat up.  
  
"Whoa! I think so."  
  
The computer's operating system began booting things up, but an error message flew on to the screen  
  
" ... ..WARNING!!! Personal databank!"  
  
"Ahh, oh no!" Lank lamented.  
  
Squall took a look at the message, and began entering commands on the keyboard to override the system's default. He'd had some expirience with this before, and thought he might be able to get the system to not immediatly shut-down, as it was meant to do when personal databanks were shown.   
  
After one last keystroke, the computer's error message went away, leaving a large picture accompanied by a list of information.  
  
The picture was of a girl with light brown hair, curved up at the sides and in the back. She was grinning widely, and had bright green eyes. The name above the picture read 'Selphie Tilmett'.  
  
Squall looked at the picture curiously for a moment. It was Selphie alright, but she looked about three years younger in the picture.  
  
_"Must be an old picture..."_ he thought.   
  
Port looked up at the screen nervously.  
  
"Th.. This is.! Selphie's personal data!" he exclaimed.  
  
Suddenly, everyone heard a loud, fast pace clomping of footsteps coming towards them. Selphie briskly leapt over to the computer controls, and shut down the system as quickly as she could. As soon as the moniter shut down, she fervently ran off again.  
  
_"Selphie?"_ Squall thought. He wondered how she knew to be over here just in time to shut down her personal databank, and why she wanted to...  
  
Squall shook his head, and left Lank and Port to figure out the computer all over again. He made his way back to where the bunks had been made, and found Selphie speaking with two young children.  
  
A young boy, nearly in tears, was apologizing to Selphie  
  
"Selphie!" he exclaimed. "I'm sorry Selphie! Can you forgive us?"  
  
Selphie looked at him strangly.   
  
"What? Why? Why are you apologizing?" she asked softly.  
  
"That teddy bear you gave me. I couldn't save it!" the boy said. He looked at the ground, ashamed, and afriad that Selphie would be mad at him.  
  
A little girl accompanied the boy, and appeared eqaully distraught.  
  
"I can hear him crying. He's lonely!" she exclaimed.  
  
Selphie tried to keep herself from laughing at the children. She thought it was cute, how much they cared for her old stuffed bear.  
  
"My teddy bear's a lot stronger than you think!" she told them assuredly. "As long as you're all safe, Mr. Bear's very happy. Heeey! I can hear him! Mr. Bear's watching over you secretly."  
  
The children looked around at this, wodering from where Mr. bear was watching them.  
  
"So don't be naughty or sad all the time!" Selphie said. "Just remember, Mr. Bear is watching you!"  
  
The girl smiled slightly at Selphie.  
  
"Okay. I. I promise to be good! Tell Mr. Bear I won't be sad or cry all the time, ok?"  
  
Selphie nodded, smileing happily.  
  
The boy smield as well.  
  
"Thank's Selphie!"   
  
And with that, the two children ran off to play happily.  
  
Squall appraoched Selphie after she'd finished talking with the children. Before he could say anything however, Selphie spoke up.  
  
"Sorry. I'll be there in a sec. Wait by the basketball court, ok?" she said quickly. Without waiting for response, she ran off again.  
  
Squall huffed impatiently. Rinoa patted him on the shoulder.  
  
"Hey..." she said. Squall was surprised to have her speak so calmly to him, gentle even, since her outburst at the concert. Nearly two weeks had past since then, and she hadn't really made any effort to approch Squall about the subject, or speak with him unless absolutly nessecery.  
  
"Selphie just needs to catch up with her friends, and deal with this in her own time..." Rinoa continued. "Let's just look around some more until she's ready."  
  
Squall stared at the ground as she spoke. He was anxious to regroup with Selphie, and begin disscussing a plan of action, but he knew what Rinoa was saying made sense. For the first time, Squall truly respected her input as an equal... no longer just a client.  
  
"Alright." He agreed. "But I'd rather that everyone stay together right now, until we decide on what to do."  
  
"Awww...." Quistis said, teasing Squall. "You must really care about us, huh?"  
  
Squall immediatly gave Quistis a dirty look.  
  
"No... I mean... " Squall began. "...Look I just don't want to have to go searching around for anyone when we have to leave, OK?" Squall asserted.   
  
Quistis chuckled slightly.  
  
"I was just teasing, take it easy."  
  
_"Whatever" Squall thought._  
  
The group continued exploring the remains of Trabia Garden, until they came back to the fountain that Selphie's friend was resting on. She waved to the group, regognizing them from earlier.  
  
Irvine aproached her, smileing, but not flirtatiously, strangly enough.  
  
"Hey, I was just wondering if you happened to see where Selphie had run off to?" he inquired. The girl seemed surprised.  
  
"Selphie?" she said, somewhat nervously. "Oh, she's by the cemetary. I didn't want her to feel sad, but." the girl shrugged at this, and her voice trailed off sadly.  
  
Irvine's self-asured smile turned into a worried frown.   
  
"Where is the cemetary?" he quickly asked.  
  
The girl pointed in the direction of a make-shift cematary created for the victims of the missile attack.  
  
"Com'on..." Irvine demanded. "Let's go."  
  
Zell and Quistis followed Irvine without reservation... But Rinoa and Squall were unsure as to whether appraoching Selphie now would be a good idea. She would no doubt have found the graves of her freinds by now, and may not want to be spoken to. Squall and Rinoa glanced at each other, correctly guessing and agreeing with what the other was thinking... But they followed, if nothing else, to keep the other three in line.  
  
As they found the cemetary, they saw Selphie off in the distance, near a tombstone. She didn't notice them, and they all remaiend quiet. Irvine wanted to apparoach and comfort her, but Squall put his hand in front of him, so that he wouldn't disturb her. Selphie sqautted down and placed her hand over the name carved into the stone. The group could hear her speaking aloud.  
  
"I ... I. I did it, everyone.!" she started. "I know the stage got destoryed, but I preformed. My dream band.. .I was able to carry out my dream. you remember how we promised. that we'd do something memorable for ourselves. .Right? Remember? My preformance. Our preformance we were supposed to do. You all saw me, right? You heard me.?" her voice cracked, and tears b looked towards the sky, and clutched the air with her fist.  
  
"I. I'll keep playing for however long it takes for you to hear! Our dream. It's much bigger and better than before!"   
  
With one last statment of resolve, Selphie began to break down in sobs.   
  
"Com'on" Squall said calmly, to the group. "Let's leave her be for now."  
  
Even Irvine had to agree with Squall. He took one last look at Selphie, wishing to heaven that he could do or say something to comfort her... But he knew that nothing could console one dealing with that kind of loss in their moment of mourning... nothing.  
  
Irvine followed the group away from the cemetary, and back to the central fountain of Trabia Garden.  
  
The group once more passed by Selphie's friend... she smiled at them as they walked by, but suddunly shivered.  
  
"It sure is getting cold out. Perhaps there'll be a gift from the faeries on a day like this" she said to no one impaticular.  
***************************************************************************************************************************  
  
Squall began leading the group to the the basketball court Selphie had spoken of. They passed children playing happily, and a few student's still working hard.  
  
As they went along, Squall noticed that they were standing right next to a missile, loged into a wooden platform. There were about three students examining it closely.  
  
Squall caught the attention of one of the male students, he nodded at the missile.  
  
"Is it still live?" Squall asked nervously   
  
The student shook his head, but glanced nervously at the missle.  
  
"No..." he replied. "But we have to remove this missile as soon as possilble..There's no more threat of an explosion, but if it falls over it could crush someone."  
  
Squall nodded, feeling safer now. He looked ahead, and motioned for everyone to follow him.  
  
"Alright" he said. "the basketball court should be back here... we'll wait"  
***************************************************************************************************************************  
  
Sure enough, there was the remains of a basketball court in the back. the ground was split and cracked severly in all areas of the court however. Playing any games there would be out of the question... not to mention dangerous.  
  
Everyone took a spot against the fence, which had remained standing around the court. All seemed quiet, and solom. Squall, surprisingly, broke the silence.  
  
"We're occupation. He didn't want to be caught unprepared for an attack.  
  
"We're on standby til then" he said.  
  
Squall folded his arms, and closed his eyes. The wind began blowing briskly around them, chilling Squall's face. He ignored the discomfort, however, in favor of focusing on his own thoughts.  
  
_"Doesn't seem like Galbadia had invaded this Garden yet. Are they on their way? Where's the sorceress? We have to find her and."_  
  
Squall was innterupted however, by Rinoa. She spoke up, addressing everyone.  
  
"You know. ever since I met all of you," she began, trying to express her feelings. "I've been doing some thinking. I can't stop thinking about it." Rinoa paused, unsure of what to say next. For the first time, Rinoa couldn't find a way to express herself.  
  
"I can't come up with an answer either." she ended, rather incompletly.  
  
Zell voiced his frusterations as well.  
  
"Why did the sorceress come into the picture all of a sudden?" he asked. "Was she actually waiting for this oppurtunity?" Zell huffed, becoming depressed. "Hmm... wonder if she was living a normal life before all of this?"  
  
Quistis too began expressing her thoughts and questions.  
  
"Why the search for Ellone?" she thought. She began thinking about Squall's report about Ellone, and what she'd told him before she'd been taken away from Garden.  
  
"Ellone. inviting Squall back to the past, whereas the sorceress searches for it." Quistis thought aloud. "Could it be the sorceress is trying to make that journey into the past too?"  
  
Irvine hadn't been paying attention to anyone so far. He spoke as well, but more to himself than anyone else.  
  
"I've gotta do something to show that Selphie can depend on me!" he declared.   
  
Suddenlly, a basketball rolled onto the court before Irvine's feet.  
  
A young girl in a yellow overall-skirt ran up to collect the ball.  
  
"Sorry to keep you waiting!" Selphie exclaimed, picking up the basketball.  
  
"Thanks so much for coming all the way out here, everyone" Selphie said, adressing the group. She sounded somber now... almost sad. Everyone knew what she had just been through in the cemetary.  
  
Irvine smiled at her.  
  
"Cheer up, eh?" he encouraged.  
  
Selphie looked back at him, somewhat surprised, but grateful for the concern.  
  
"Thanks" she replied sweetly.  
  
Selphie now turned to Squall with determination in her eyes.  
  
"Take me with you when you fight the sorceress, ok? I wanna get even. I want my revenge!"  
  
Everyone paused at this, surprised at Selphie's violent tone.  
  
The group was quiet for a moment, until Rinoa broke the silence, walking out into the center of the court. She spoke nervously.  
  
"Um." she began. Rinoa put her hand to her chin. "Do we. have to fight? Isn't there another way? Y'know, to aviod any bloodshed?"  
  
Zell jumped up suddenly, and swung his hand back in surprise.  
  
"Yo!? What the.!? What are you sayin' all of a sudden!?"  
  
Rinoa felt the entire groups eyes on her now, and it made her nervous. She began breathing heavily, and couldn't find the right words to explain herself... but she tried.  
  
"Maybe someone really smart can come up with a way, so that we wouldn't have to fight anymore."  
  
Squall gazed at her oddly.   
  
_"What are you getting at.?"_ he thought. _"If someone can come up with soemthing, that'd be great. But no one's doing anything."_  
  
Squall turned away from the group, focusing on his thoughts.  
  
_"They're all scared, uneasy. All they do is complain. They just pretend to be thinking"_ Squall thought. He took a few steps away from everyone else.  
  
_"They critisize others, but in the end, they can't do anything either."_ Squall truned around and faced Rinoa. _"Rinoa, why all this, all of a sudden? What do you expect from me? I grew up in Garden. I'm a SeeD. Do you understand?"_  
  
Rinoa was breathing a little easier now, and she looked back at Squall, somewhat confused.  
  
"Squall?" she asked. She cocked her head to the side.  
  
"You have to voice your feelings, or else I won't understand" she said.  
  
Squall sighed, reluctant to explain what he was thinking, lest Rinoa become upset with him.  
  
"You were." Squall started. "...part of a resistance movement in Timber, right?"  
  
Rinoa nodded, lowering her head. She knew what he was getting at.  
  
"Unlike others who were all talk, you took to your weapons and fought." Squall continued. He spoke calmly though, trying not to lecture her.  
  
"And now you're saying all this? What happened to you?" he asked.  
  
Rinoa's eyes were focused on the ground, and she frowned sadly.  
  
"I guess. I'm getting scared" she finally replied.  
  
"Sometimes. when I'm with all of you,. I .fell like we're on the same wavelegnth. you know?" she looked all around the group, hoping they would understand her.  
  
"But when the battles start happening, it's different" she explaind. "Everyone's tempo seems to pick up and." she apused. ".I get left behind. I try to catch up, but it's no use." Rinoa held out her hands in a sad gesture.  
  
"How far is everyone going?" she asked, rethorically. "I can't. hear anyone."  
  
Everyone gazed at the ground as they listened to Rinoa express her feelings.  
  
"Once I catch up, I wonder." Rinoa continued, "Is everyone safe? Will they welcome me with open arms? ..Is everyone ok?Will we all make it back together?" Rinoa shook her head When I start thinking like that."  
  
Rinoa stopped, realizing that she was making herself upset...  
  
Irvine stepped forward.  
  
"Rinoa, I understand" he began. Everyone looked surprised at this.  
  
"Someone might not be there" Irvine continued. "Someone you love may dissappear before you very eyes. It's tough when you live your life thinking that way." Irvine sighed.  
  
"But that's why I fight."  
  
Irvine picked up the basket ball, and began toying with it as he spoke.  
  
"When I was a little kid. I was about four or so. I was in an orphanage" Irvine started. He took a shot at the hoop, and missed.  
  
"Plenty of kids." he continued. "All with no parents. It was around the end of the sorceress war, So I guess it couldn't be helped. Anyway, that's where I was."  
  
Irvine turned toward Selphie, smiling at her.  
  
"And out of all the kids there, one was very special to me."  
  
Images of his past came fresh to Irvine's mind. He thought back happily on his childhood.  
  
_**"Irvy, wanna play?"**_  
  
_**"Sefie, wha'cha playin'!?"**_  
  
_**"WAR!"**_  
  
"I really liked this girl, and it made me so happy just talking to her" Irvine said, chuckleing slightly as he spoke.  
  
Selphie narrowed her eyes as Irvine told his story. She appraoched him slowly, looking up at his eyes.  
  
Was that orphanage." Selphie asked cautiously, "a stone house?"  
  
Irvine smiled wide at this.  
  
"You guessed it" he said.  
  
Quistis, too, looked oddly disturbed.  
  
"An old house made of stone?" she asked. ".By the ocean?"  
  
"You guessed it" Irvine repeated, smiling knowingly.  
  
Quistis and Selphie gasped in unison. Both of them realized that they had been at the same orphanage, at the same time as Irvine, when they were all children.  
  
"I knew right away, when we first met!" Irvine cried happily.  
  
"Heey!" Selphie cried out. "Why didn't you tell us!?"   
  
Quistis frowned at Irvine, more confused than upset.  
  
"Yes, why didn't you tell us!?" she asked.  
  
"Cause you two seemed to have forgotten! It just kinda sucked that I was the only one who remembered." Irvine explained. He laughed.  
  
"Spunky little Sefie and bossy little Quisty" he said, remembering the nicknames they had used for each other.  
  
Selphie shook her head, half confused and half overjoyed to recall these memories.  
  
"That is just so weird." she said.  
  
Zell listened to the conversation carefully before speaking up. He cleared his throat nervously.  
  
"Huh?" Quistis said, turning to Zell. Something about him suddenly seemed very familar to her as she looked at him.  
  
Zell raised an eyebrow  
  
"Hey. do you guys remember setting off fireworks?"  
  
Irvine smiled at Zell now as well  
  
"That was." he began.  
  
_**"This way!**_  
  
Squall feighned disinterest at the conversation, but he couldn't prevent his own memories from surfacing. He felt a familiarity with their descriptions of the orphanage, and suddenly began to remember Quistis, Zell, and Selphie as Children... Squall recalled one little boy impaticular that he had tried for years to detach himself from.  
  
_**"Sis. Elle."**_  
  
_**"Matwyn! Sis isn't here! Where's sis!?"**_  
  
_**"Sis. Where'd'yoo go? Yoo don't like me anymore?"**_  
  
Squall looked upon his former self with disdain and disgust.  
  
_"What a shameful sight" _he thought.  
  
Irvine felt overjoyed to have Quistis, Selphie and Zell remember him, and the orphanage.  
  
"How about this?" he exclaimed. They all started recalling the familar settings.  
  
"YEAH!" Selphie agreed.  
  
Zell closed his eyes, remembering the sights, sounds, and smells of the orphanage.  
  
"The ocean! The lighthouse!" he cried out.  
  
Quistis placed her hand over her chest in shock.  
  
"We did set off fireworks!"  
  
_**"Yoooooo!!! Kids aren't supposed ta play with fireworks! I'm tell-ing!!! I'm gonna tell on yoo!!!"**_  
  
_**"Cry-Ba-by-Ze-ll! GO back to bed!"**_  
  
Zell shook his head. He couldn't understand having these memories, when he had parents in Balamb... Before today, his earliest memories took place on the Balamb docks, and his home.  
  
"If I remember this," Zell started, "does that mean I was there, too?"  
  
Quistis was still thinking about the fireworks  
  
" ..We all got in big trouble."  
  
Zell was trying to sort out the memories.  
  
"Then. what about my parents in Balamb..?" he asked.  
  
Quistis thought for a moment. She had a small image of Zell clearly in her mind now, and she knew that he was part of ths group  
  
"The dinchts in Balamb muct have adopted you" she offered.  
  
Irvine nodded  
  
"Yep, that's probably it" he agreed.  
  
Zell sighed, still confused, but the memories were undeniable, though they were still fuzzy.  
  
"I. was here." he said, closing his eyes again.  
  
_**"Yooo! C'mon! stop it! Matwyn, help!!!"**_  
  
_**"Cry-baby-Ze-ell!!!"**_  
  
Zell frowned as new memories started puring in.   
  
"'Cry baby... Zell'?" he said, quoting a small child he recalled at the orphanage. "Someone .... called me that..."  
  
Selphie too faintly remembered this.  
  
"Who's THAT!?" she excalimed.  
  
Everyone recalled the vicious laughter of a little boy teasing a young Zell.  
  
_**"NAH-NA-NA-NA-NAH!!!"**_  
  
_**"Stop teasing me, Seifer!"**_  
  
Quistis gasped as another child was recalled to her mind.  
  
"Oh my goodness!" she exclaimed.  
  
Zell shook his head in disbelife  
  
"Seifer. My archenemy."  
  
Selphie's eyes went wide as she pictured Seifer as a child.  
  
"WOW! He was there, too!" she cried excitedly.  
  
Irvine was smiling, but he frowned as he took a look at Squall, who had withdrawn from the group.  
  
"Well?" he asked expectantly. Squall raised a wary eyebrow at this.  
  
_"Seifer..."_ Squall thought. He began lisiting off the children in his mind.  
  
_"Seifer was always Seifer... Zell. Always crying and screaming. Irvine... and... Quistis. I think you were difficult to deal with. Selphie.. always full of energy."_  
  
Irvine sighed.  
  
"Seifer was there, too" he finally said. "Except for Rinoa, we were all there."  
  
Selphie turned to look at Squall. He'd been suspiciously quiet during the whole conversation.  
  
"Heeey that means." she started.  
  
Squall was leaning against a large pile of rubble at this point, arms folded. He pushed himself up, and nodded reluctantly admitting his past.  
  
"Yeah..." he began. "I was there, too. I." Squall paused.  
  
_**"Sis.."**_  
  
"I was always waiting for Sis' to come back" he said. Squall thought back to his childhood.  
  
_**"I'm. all alone. But I'm doing my best. I'll be ok without you, Sis. I'll be able to take care of myself."**_  
  
_" .I didn't turn out ok at all." he thought to himself._  
  
_**".Sis Elle."**_  
  
As Squall recalld his past, he suddenly had a revalation.  
  
"Elle." he said aloud. "Ellone."  
  
Everyone immediatly looked at Squall. Ellone was one of them... another orphan.  
  
"So, Ellone was Sis'" Squall started to remember. "She was a bit older than us, and we all used to call her Sis'."  
  
Squall looked at everyone, recalling their faces as small children.  
  
"Quistis, Zell, Selphie, Irvine, Seifer, Ellone, and myself." he listed. "Yeah. I'm not sure what the meaning behind all this is, but we were definatly together."  
  
Zell put up his hands in further confusion. He remembered someone called Sis... but she was Ellone?   
  
"You mean, Sis is Ellone?" Zell asked.  
  
Selphie thought for a moment.  
  
"She's the one that takes us back to Laguna's period" she observed.  
  
".She said she wanted to change the past" Squall said. "I don't know why."  
  
Quistis spoke up now.  
  
"There can only be one reason for that" she said. She looked at Selphie.  
  
"She must not be happy with the present" Selphie said, completing Quistis' thought.  
  
Zell nodded, seeming to understand now.  
  
"It that's the case, I'm definatly up for helpin' her! She's part of our orphanage gang!" he exclaimed.  
  
Selphie laughed at Zell.  
  
"You didn't even remember who she was!" she chidded.  
  
"Hey, Selphie." Irvine letured playfully. "That goes for you, too!"  
  
Quistis put her hand to her chin contempativly  
  
"It's pretty scary we've forgotten all these things." she said.  
  
Everyone was quiet now. It took a while for the silence to be broken.  
  
Zell sighed.  
  
"So, ma and pa aren't my real parents." he said sadly.  
  
"I wonder where the orphanage is.?" Selphie said.  
  
Irvine looked at Squall.  
  
"Hmm. So, Sis was Ellone, eh? Everyone was fond of Sis, but you Squall, you kept hoggin' her for yourself"  
  
Squall gave Irivne a mean look, embaressed to have him recall so much about Squall's childhood.  
  
"You sure have a good memory." Squall said somewhat suspiciously.  
  
"This is really strange, though" he continued. he tried to recall what happened to all of them after the orphanage.  
  
"I don't think I was adopted because of the way I am" Squall observed.  
  
"Probably the same with Seifer, too" Irvine offered. "You two must have been at Garden by the age of 5 or so."  
  
Squall shook his head.  
  
"Even so, he's never mentioned anything about growing up in an orphanage. And nothing about this has ever crossed my mind when I see him, either. Don't you find that odd.?"  
  
Selphie gazed at the ground. smirking slightly.  
  
"That IS strange.!" she exclaimed. "In my case, I had loads and loads of fun after going to Trabia. That's probably why I forgot all about my childhood. That's what I think." she explained. "But I don't know what's up with you guys! It's so odd that you would forget!"  
  
"I.. remember" Quistis started. "Yes, I remember now. Things didn't work out too well at my new home. So I came to garden at the age of 10. That was when I first noticed Seifer and Squall" she said. "Seifer and Squall were always fighting."  
  
Squall frowned at the memory.  
  
"Yeah. Quistis always used to break us up" he said.  
  
Quistis' eyes went wide, as if she had started to remember much more now.  
  
"Yes! That's right!" she exclaimed. "Seifer was a kid who always needed to be the center of attention. But Squall always used to ignore him. But eventually they would end up fighting." Quistis shook her head with disdain. "Squall could have easily walked away from it, but he always took up the challenge. He should've just ignored him, but Squall, almost in tears, would say. I gotta do my best by myself. Or else I won't be able to see Sis."  
  
Squall didn't like hearing this, but he new that all of it was true.  
  
"I guess I was trying to take Sis.. I mean, Ellone's place" Quistis offered. "I tried, but to no avail. That;s probably it! Even After becoming an instructor, I couldn't stop thinking about Squall..." Quistis was lost in her explination, and nearly forgot that everyone was listening to her.  
  
"I thought it was. love" she started. "I had to hide my feelings because I was an instructor... but I don't think it was love..."  
  
Quistis eyes glistened slightly.  
  
"It was my childhood feelings as a big sister that lingered. " she realized.  
  
Squall overheard her, and blushed a bright red immediatly. He had no idea that Quistis had felt like that about him... or thought that she did, and he felt both embaressed to have this announced to everyone, and guilty for being so insensitive to her his whole life.  
  
Zell slapped his forhead in shock.  
  
"Yo. this is gettin' outta hand. We forgot way too much" he exclaimed. "To not remember ANY of this until Irvine mentions it... It still seems like there's so many gaps..."  
  
Selphie nodded in agreement.  
  
"Hmm. I can't remember. The orphange was located... where?" she asked.  
  
Quistis was still lost in her thoughts. She muttered to herself,  
  
"A misunderstood love.? ...Actually, I had completely given up when Rinoa came into the picture..."  
  
Squall blushed once again at this.  
  
"Hey!" Quistis exclaimed. "It must be the same for Seifer! I'm sure Seifer has forgotten his childhood, too. But whenever he sees Squall, his inner feelings start to boil, and."  
  
Zell looked towards Quistis.  
  
"Is that why he's always pickin' fights with Squall?" he asked. Quistis nodded.  
  
Squall narrowed his eyes in frusteration.  
  
"..Why is it that we forgot? We grew up together as kids. How's that possible.?"  
  
Irvine sighed. Everyone looked at him, sicne he seemed to have all the answers.  
  
"How about this?" he offered. " ..The price we pay for using the GF. The GF provides us its power. But the GF makes its own place inside our brain."  
  
"So you're saying that the area is where our memories are stored? No! That's just a rumor the GF critics are spreading..." she spoke loudly, and defensivly. But at the same time, she doubted her convictions.  
  
Zell raised an eyebrow questioningly.  
  
"So if we keep relying on the GF, we won't be able to rememebr a lot of things?" he wondered.  
  
Quistis shook her head.  
  
"There's no way headmaster Cid would allow such a dangerous thing!" she cried.  
  
Irvine shrugged his shoulders.  
  
"Then how is it that I rememebr, while everyone else has forgotten? Well..?" he asked. No one had an answer.  
  
"In my case, I hadn't junctioned a GF until recently. That's why I rememebr a lot more than you guys."  
  
Quistis looked to the ground, searching for answer. A thought suddenly came to her.  
  
"How about you Selphie?" Quistis asked. "Your first expirience with the GF was when yoiu came to Balamb Gardenb, right?"  
  
Selphie shifted her eyes around nervously.  
  
".yeah" she said plainly.  
  
"Is it because of the GF that we forget.?" Zell wondered aloud. "Is that why other forces refrain from using GF?" He'd often wondered about this, but had paid little heed to GF critics. Now, though, it seemed undeniable.  
  
Quistis thought and thought, but coldn't come up with any explination as to why they would not remember each other... Except for the GF.  
  
"We gave up our memories in exchange for power" she finally admitted, disturbed by the idea.  
  
Irvine placed his hand on her shoulder, trying to be consoling.  
  
"There are some thigns we're better off not remmebering. Especially whern your life revolves around batles." he lamented.  
  
Selphie suddenly giggled and started dancing about.  
  
"I have a confession to make!" she announced. "When I was 12, I went on an outdoor training session. I found a GF inside one of the monsters I defeated. I junctioned that GF for a while. So I have experience with GF, too..."   
  
Quistis nodded, finally and fully acepting the truth of the matter... all evidence of their memorie loss pointed to Irvine's thoery... the Guardian Forces.  
  
"But." Selphie continued. "But it's really weird! I can't remember the name of that GF!"  
  
"It must be the GFs fault" Quistis said. She turned to the whole group, anxious.  
  
"...What should we do?" Quistis asked.  
  
Squall thought back to his expirience with Gaurdian Forces... He also recalled the so-called 'link' he had established with Shiva, and the ensuing conversation. He gazed at the others around him, realzing that they had not yet had the same expirience... He decided not to tell them about it just yet, but he spoke in defense nonetheless.  
  
"What should we do?" Squall repeated. "...nothing."  
  
Zell went wide eyed at this.  
  
"What do you mean nothing!?" he cried loudly.  
  
Squall huffed in irritation.  
  
"What do you want to do? You wanna stop using GF now?"  
  
Squall look every person in the eye, one by one, as if to say, 'well?'. He knew, and they knew, that they weren't nearly as strong as they were without the aid of the GF.  
  
"As long as we continue fighting, we're indebted to the powers of the GF" Squall lectured. "If there's a price I have to pay for that, I'll gladly pay it."  
  
Everyone was surprised at Squall's conviction. They knew that what he was saying was probably right. It was scary, and disconsourting, to know that your memories were slowly being erased, but the powers of the GF gave them a huge upper hand. Losing that would mean certain defeat.  
  
"Heeey, I know!" Selphie suddenly cried out. "Let's all keep a diary! That way we'll always have something to remind us!"  
  
Zell grimaced uneasily.  
  
"Are you sure that's what you want!?" He looked around to observe everyone's expression. He sighed, somewhat dissapointed.  
  
"Maybe. that's for the best" he conceded. "Yeah.. .I don't care if I forget about my childhood, when Seifer used to pick on me..." he chuckled slightly.  
  
"What's important to me now is having the power to protect my parents in Balamb. They adopted me. There's no way I'm lettin' go of that power!" Zell asserted.  
  
Quistis suddenly spoke up.  
  
"Hey. Do you all remember Matron?"  
  
Zell squinted for a moment, trying to remember.  
  
"She was always wearin' black." he said.  
  
Squall, too tried to summon these memories.  
  
_"Matron dressed in black..."_ he thought. Several familar images swarmed through his mind as he tried to pinpoint a woman they knew as 'Matron'.  
  
"Let's see." Selphie said.  
  
Quistis was thinking aloud.  
  
"Very kind. long balck hair. Yes, I really admired her" she recalled.  
  
"Whoa" Zell said suddenly. "Guys... d'you remember what Edea looked like...? ...I see a resemblence" he said in a disturbed tone. "Matron. They look alike.."  
  
Everyone looked at Zell oddly.   
  
"Wait." Selphie said suddenly. "I just pictured her face, and." Selphie gasped in horror.  
  
Irvine sighed deeply.  
  
Look alike, Zell? Selphie? I wish."   
  
Irvine took a deep breath before his next sentence.  
  
"Matron's name is Edea Kramer. Matron IS sorceress Edea" he revealed.  
  
Selphie placed her hand over her mouth, terrified.  
  
"Matron. Sorceress Edea." she said slowly.  
  
Quistis' eyes were wide in confusion.  
  
Why is that Matron.?" she started.  
  
Irvine shook his head, and cut her off.  
  
"Why? You're wondering why matron would take over a country, or fire misiles and whatnot?"  
  
Quistis nodded, distrubed.  
  
"At this point, we probably wouldn't comprehend it even if we talked about it" Irvine offered, shurgging his shoulders sadly.  
  
Squall nodded.  
  
_"You're probably right"_ he thought.  
  
Irvine put up his hands to gather everyone's attention.  
  
"..hear me out" he said. Irvine cleared his throat.  
  
"SeeD and Garden were all Matron's idea, right?" he started. "I'm not a SeeD, but I share the same ideals, and code with all of you, and I know that SeeDs are supposed to fight sorceresses..."  
  
Squall rolled Irvine's words around hin his mind.  
  
_"This is strange"_ he thought. _"That's right. It was when I was being tortured by Seifer. He wanted to know what SeeD was. Matron should know. but Matron is Sorceress Edea. There's no denying that."_  
  
Squall shook his head in confuson.  
  
_"What does this all mean?"_  
  
Irvine shot a quick galnce at Squall  
  
"Squall, you listening?"  
  
Squall gave his attention back to Irvine now.  
  
"So like. this is what I wanted to say" Irvine continued. "I understand what Rinoa's saying" he said. "I understand, but I'm still gonna fight. I want to stay true to everything I've stood for."  
  
The wind blew harshly on them now, as Irvine continued his speach. He was filled with conviction, but his voice also denoted a dissapoitment with the cruel irony of the situation that they had now been put it.  
  
"I'm sure it's the same for everyone" Irvine said. "That's why I thought it'd be best if everyone knew we would have to face Matron."  
  
Irvine tipped up his hat, trying to find the words to express himself.  
  
"You've all heard ths before" he continued. "...how life has infinite possibilities? Well, I don't belive that one bit. There weren't many paths for me to choose. Somtimes, there would only be one.  
  
Though they weren't sure exactly what Irvine was getting at, everyone understood what he was trying to say.  
"That's why I value the path I choose... I want to hold true to the path that HAD to be taken." Irvine looked at everyone, the expression on his face nearly pleading with them to understand him.  
  
"I know our oppenent is Matron, whom we all love very much. We might also lose something very important on account of the GF. But I don't mind. I didn't have many choices, but it's not like I drifted here on the tides of fate, either. I'm here because I choose to be here." Irvine paused, gazing happily at all of his childhood friends.  
  
"And more importantly." he continued, "we all grew up together." His next words were spoken sadly. "But due to various circumstances, we were all seperated."  
  
Irvine continued explaing his choice.  
  
"As a kid, you couldn't really go out on your own. There were no other paths to take. All I did was just cry. But. Somehow, we;'re togther again. Just like old times, though a lot's changed." He smiled confidently at the group. "We're not kids anymore. We're strong enough to take care of ourselves. Make our own decisions. We're confronting a big one right now. Do we fight Matron or not..?" He looked around, as if expecting an answer.  
  
"You know what I think..." he continued. "I say we fight. Shoot for a common goal... Hey, at least it'll keep us together a little longer."  
  
Zell smiled wryly.  
  
" .Yeah. Let's do it" he agreed. "We can't run from her for the rest of our lives."  
  
"It;'s just such a bummer." Selphie said. "I can't belive we havre to fight Matron" she lamented.  
  
Quistis nodded.  
  
"I know. but Zell's right" she said. "We can't run from her forever."  
  
Squall nodded as well. He knew that it had to be done, somehow. But he turned his mind now to someone else... Rinoa.  
  
She'd been left out of the entire conversation, and stood behind the group, staring at the ground feeling sad. Squall felt guilty, the same way he'd felt guilty all the times he'd hurt Rinoa when they had first met her. But it was genuine now, and he found himself truly caring about her feelings.  
  
"Rinoa" Squall said softly, trying to get her attention. ". It's up to you. We're gonna fight. I think it's the only way we can move on with our lives. If that makes any sense at all, come with us."  
  
Rinoa was speechless. She tried to respond, but the words got caught in her throat.  
  
"I'm sure that's what everybody wants" Squall continued.  
  
Rinoa blushed a deep red at this. At that moment, surronded by the five Garden students, she felt more accepted, and more loved than anytime on her life that she could recall.  
  
Rinoa smiled at Squall innocently. She didn't want to fight, but if it meant staying with Squall and the others, it was worth it.  
  
A suddenly icyness came over them all, and Selphie looked up at the sky  
  
"Look! Look!" she exclaimed. "A gift from the faeries!"  
  
Sure enough, it was snowing right down on Trabia Garden. The cheers of Students could be heard resonating throughout the remains of Garden.  
  
After a moment's silence, Zell spoke up.  
  
"Yo, you wanna go check out Edea's orphanage?" he asked Squall.  
  
Irvine nodded in agreement.  
  
"We might find a clue" he offered.  
  
Quistis looked questioningly at Irvine.  
  
"Clue? You mean as to why Matron turned out like this?"  
  
Squall thouht placed his hand on his chin.  
  
_It probably has something to do with something that happened in then past. But the past is the past. it's over, done with"_ he thought.  
  
Despite what truth we find, it's not going to change the present." Squall warned. But he softened his tone. "But.I wanna see, too" he admitted. "I don't know what we'll find, but let's head for Edea's house. Let's get going now."  
  
Squall motioned for everyone to head back. He remained behind, until all but one other person remained on the basketball court.  
  
Rinoa and Squall gaze at each other for a moment, awkwardly at first, but Rinoa smiled, creating a comfortable atmosphere between them.  
  
"I guess that's it." Squall said, somberly. "We're fighting."  
  
Rinoa shook her head, laughing slightly.  
  
".You guys are fearless" she said.  
  
Squall shrugged, unsure of what she meant.  
  
_"Fearless? I don't think that;s quoite right. If you think too hard, you become lost. I think that's what everyone's afraid of." _he thought. He looked at Rinoa, sympathetically. She wasn't ready to fight... but that was alright with him.  
  
"I wish we didn't have to fight, either" Squall said softly. Rinoa smiled slightly at him, put her arm around his, and they walked out of the court together.  


***************************************************************************************************************************  
  
End Chap. 33  
  
...but not 'together' together. Not just yet anyway. (I just thought that was a sweet way to end the chapter.)  
So, the backrounds of our charecters are revealed... But their former gaurdian, Edea, has turned against them? What for? Will they find out?   
  
Yeah, so, I hope this chapter was enjoyable. I found my self lacking the proper language to fully express the scenes... But I hope you didn't feel something was missing...if so, let me know and I'll re-write the entire thing... @_@.... And even though, yes, this was a LONG chapter, I hope i was able to shorten things up a bit text-wise...   
  
And BTW, this starts the 7-chapter coutndown until the end of Disc 2! How exciting!  
  
anyway, stay tuned for some neat mini-quests as Squall & co. search the world for Edea's house. Also, please make sure your reviews have something constructive to say. even if it's a positive review, give me some tips, or point out a paticular point you liked. Just a reminder! And one more thing, you'll notive that some of my formatting in the previous chapters hasn't carried over to the latter ones... it seems that FF.net has either blocked paticular formatting options, or the text doc. converter i am using doesn't agree with ff.net's set-up. I'll attemp to remedy this, but i just didn't want anyone to think I was being lazy.  
***************************************************************************************************************************  


  


  



	35. Garden vs Garden

After the visit to Trabia, and the discussion that took place on the wreckage of the basketball court, Squall decided that Garden's next destination would be the orphanage. But no-one knew where it was, only that it was somewhere on the coast, next to a lighthouse.

Nida had been piloting Garden around for a week, and the orphanage could still not be found. Squall didn't tell anyone, but he was worried. At this rate, they could waste a whole year and still not find it. Everyone's spirits and motivation were down.

Selphie, although happy that her old school friends were still alive and well, had been moping about the state of Trabia Garden. No one could blame her, really … after all, it had been her home for many years. Zell tried to cheer her up by trying to break the current record of how many hot dogs a Balamb Garden student could fit in their mouth, and he broke the record of six … but Selphie was still depressed, and now Zell was quite ill.

Since Selphie's energetic and optimistic mood had vanished completely, this had an incredible effect on Quistis, who became depressed easily anyway, and on Irvine, who too, missed his home and the friends he had left behind.

Everyone turned to Squall with their problems, and he was beginning to feel the strain of being a leader. He lay on the bed in his dorm, listening to the sea gently lap up on the shore; they were near to a coast, he could tell. He would have fallen asleep in that peaceful moment, if it had not been for an anncounement coming out of the overhead speaker system that echoed in his tiny dormitory.

"Squall," said Nida, "Come up to the bridge."

__

"Is this it?" Squall thought excitedly, leaping up from his bed. _"Has he found Edea's house?"_

Squall picked up his black leather jacket, and put it on while hurrying down the corrdior, into the main foyer, then into the lift and up onto the bridge, where he had not been for a few days. Nida was there at the control panel, with his back to Squall. He soon turned around when he heard Squall's footsteps.

"Squall, take a look," Nida said, offering out a pair of binoculars. Squall, in his trademark fashion, quite rudely snatched them out of Nida's hands.

Squall became increasingly impatient as the binoculars took a moment to zoom in and focus, but when they had adjusted, it was not Edea's house that he saw in front of him. It was not Edea's house at all. It was Galbadia Garden.

The huge flying academy was a few miles to the north-east of them, making its way through a lush green forest and devastating everything in its path. Squall stared at it for at least a minute, and struggled with many thoughts that were flowing through his mind.

"So, what do you think?" Nida inquired thoughtfully, as Squall finally handed him back the binoculars.

__

"They probably know we're here, too. If not, we'll make the first move," Squall thought privately to himself, while gently massaging his chin.

"Well, a battle is inevitable," he announced gravely, turning to face Nida.

"The sorceress is with them, huh?" Nida replied, placing the high-tech binoculars back into a case and then looking up hopefully. "So this is going to be the final battle?"

"I hope so," Squall admitted truthfully, giving him a fleeting smile.

__

"What should I do first? I have to give orders to everybody. It's my responsibility," Squall thought, trying not to panic and staying calm in the dangerous situation._ "I have to try to keep it simple. If I give out too many orders, it could lead to chaos."_

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Nida peering at him eagerly, waiting.

"Give out your orders when you're ready," he said, placing his hands behind his back.

__

"What should I say!? Come on, think! There's no time!" Squall thought desperately. He pushed a button on the control panel to activate a microphone and began to give out his orders.

"This is Squall speaking," he started, "This is an emergency, so listen carefully. We're going into battle against Galbadia Garden. As you may all know, Seifer is with them. I plan to settle everything, once and for all, with this battle. The Garden will proceed straight ahead. Set speed at 50% in case we need to make evasive maneuvers. 1st and 2nd Class Sabers, assemble in the parking lot. Those with MG Ranks 3 or above, head for the 2nd floor deck and await instructions. Be sure to warm up."

He paused here for a little breather, so the students could digest all of his important information.

"The enemy will probably come aboard. We must concentrate our forces at the front gate and the quad. If your student ID number is even, report to the quad. If it's odd, report to the front gate. Quistis, Zell, Selphie. Come up to the bridge right away. Those who have student ID numbers ending with an 8, take care of the junior classmen."

"That was great," Nida congratulated, patting Squall on his shoulder, just as Quistis, Selphie and Irvine, but not Zell, came up through the lift.

"Hey, hey, _heeey_," Irvine said slowly, swaggering across the room, "What's up? I'm not invited? I thought I was part of the gang."

"Oh, sorry about that," Squall had honestly forgotten all about Irvine.

"Why am I always the odd one out?" Irvine pouted grumpily and flicked his ponytail over his shoulder, glancing out of the corner of his eye at Selphie. But she had barely noticed him or his little attention-seeking speech.

"Whoo-hoo!" she jumped up and punched the air. "Garden versus the Sorceress, _The Final Battle_! This is _so_ exciting!"

Although pleased to see Selphie back to normal, Squall wished she could be serious for once, especially at a time like this. To his delight, Quistis was much more professional and mature in her reaction. Good old reliable Quistis.

"Squall, what do you want us to do?" she asked him.

"I want you guys to help me lead the others. When Zell gets here, we'll divide into two teams."

As he finished, he saw his three comrades exchange a quick, nervous glance.

"Zell…?" Selphie repeated innocently, twirling a strand of hair around her finger. "Umm .. I think he's … taking a nap."

"Yeah," Quistis butted in hurriedly, "He said he hasn't slept at all lately."

"What…?" Irvine raised an eyebrow at the two girls. "But he's got more energy than – oh! Oh, yeah…"

Irvine quickly stopped talking and looked sheepish.

"What are you guys talking about?" Squall asked, becoming increasingly annoyed, and also frustrated that he was being left out from some kind of joke, not to mention that this really wasn't the time for silly little games.

"Nothing," Selphie smiled sweetly and tapped the side of her nose, "It's our little secret!"

__

"What's he doing?" Squall thought angrily. "_We don't have any time!"_

"Look, whatever," Squall held up both his hands, changing the subject. "I'm going to check the quad. Irvine, Quistis, you come with me. Selphie, find Zell. You guys work together and lead the team at the front gate."

"Gotcha!" Selphie winked. "But what about Rinoa?"

Squall paused for a moment to think about her. "_Rinoa…"_

"You guys take care of her," he said finally, and she hopped away into the lift. Squall turned to Irvine and Quistis. "Come on, let's go to the quad."

Outside, a harmless, grazing deer ran away in fright from the terror of the advancing Galbadia Garden. For such a huge thing it moved very quickly, ever closer to Balamb Garden.

When they reached the quad, Squall was both very delighted and relieved to see that Zell was already there, taking charge of a group of students.

"You guys are over here," he instructed bossily. "Backup the advance guards. Alright, listen up! This is the big one, guys! We gotta win, no matter what!"

The students cheered and dispersed into different areas of the quad. Zell noticed Squall and turned to him, proudly punching his fists together in his usual fashion.

"S'up, Squall!" he greeted. "I got this place covered."

Squall glanced around the quad sceptically and raised an unconvinced eyebrow at Zell.

"I thought you were sleeping?" he asked sarcastically.

"Oh...! Yeah, y-your announcement woke me up," Zell lied. "My student ID is even, so I'm supposed to be here, right?"

"Right," Squall nodded, and Zell suddenly grasped his upper arm and pulled him to one side.

"Yo, Squall," he whispered. "I've gotta talk to you."

"About what?"

"It's about your ring," Zell said and pressed his lips together nervously. "This might not be the time, but..."

__

"...What is it?" Squall wondered in his head while giving Zell a confused frown.

"Give me your ring, will ya?" Zell demanded bossily. "I just wanna borrow it for a while. I won't lose it or anything. C'mon, what do you say?"

"Why do you need it?" Squall asked, bemused.

Zell paused.

"Uh...I can't tell you that," he said, his impatience growing. He started hopping about from one foot to the other. "C'mon, just give it to me! You know you can trust me."

__

"What the hell? I like this ring. I guess it's all right if he just wants to borrow it...Maybe he wants to use it as some kind of lucky charm." Squall came to the conclusion.

"_Don't_ lose it," Squall said sternly, removing his black leather glove and then taking off his lion ring, handing it to Zell, who punched the air with both fists.

"YEAH! THANKS MAN!" he cried happily. "I didn't think you were gonna give it to me! Rinoa is gonna be _so _happy!"

"Rinoa?" Squall repeated.

"Alright, Squall!" Zell grinned cheekily, looking wilder and happier than ever. "Leave this place to me!"

Just then, Selphie came trotting down the steps into the main area of the quad.

"Geez, Zell!" she said breathlessly. "There you are!"

With a determined look on her face, Rinoa appeared from behind Selphie.

"Guys, I'm gonna fight, too. I don't wanna just hide," Rinoa told them, holding up her arm and gesturing to the Blaster Edge, her weapon. "I know I can fight. I want to fight alongside everyone."

"Take care of yourself," Squall nodded, he understood how she felt. Zell looked around at all the nervous students.

"I hope this is the last time we have to fight in our home," he said thoughtfully.

Suddenly the speaker system crackled to life and Nida's voice boomed out.

__

"Squall, get back to the bridge right now!"

"Zell, I'm counting on you," Squall said, then turned to the others. "Good luck, everyone."

"Time to get – it – ON!" Zell shouted, psyched up for the battle ahead.

Squall hurried up to the bridge with Irvine and Quistis. All around them, students were running to different areas of Garden, looking scared and nervous. He hoped everyone knew where they had to be.

"Look!" Nida called out as soon as Squall arrived onto the bridge.

Galbadia Garden's large propeller brushed up against some dense forest, mercilessly ripping it apart. Standing triumphantly atop the Garden was Seifer, with a smirk on his face as the two Gardens continued to slowly approach each other.

"Seifer is in charge over there," Nida confirmed, though Squall had already noticed. "They're heading right for us!"

"Just keep going," Squall instructed cooly.

Nida pushed the steering mechanism forward and Garden surged ahead, while on Galbadia Garden, Seifer signaled to a huge group of hundreds of Galbadian soldiers on motorcycles. A loud rumbling noise filled the forest surroundings as each motorbike engine revved up, then they sped up ramps and into the air, leaving long trails of smoky exhaust as they went.

The motorcycles landed onto Balamb Garden, right in the center of the quad, scattering the SeeDs and cadets.

"We're gonna crash!" Nida shouted, back up on the bridge.

"Go right!" Squall shouted back quickly, and grabbed onto the steering mechanism himself. Together they heaved it right, and a tremendous collision rocked the Garden. Squall nearly fell over, but grabbed onto the control panel and switched on the microphone.

"The enemy is right by us!" he shouted, and his voice came out over Garden's speaker system. "Quad team, _watch out!_"

In the quad, Galbadian soliders on motorcycles raced past Zell, Rinoa and Selphie as Squall's voice boomed out from a nearby speaker and echoed on the walls.

"Go straight ahead, to the left!" Zell called out as he ran in that direction. "We gotta stop 'em from comin' in!"

He suddenly stopped in his tracks, and so did the two girls behind him.

"…OH yeah!" he cried out, as if suddenly remembering something, then turned to Rinoa. "Here you go."

"Like I said," he offered out his hand, sitting in the palm of which was Squall's lion ring, "I'll make you one just like it. 'Til then, hold onto it for me, will ya?"

"What did you say to him?" Rinoa asked in awe, with a delighted smile beginning to creep across her face.

"I just told him to hand it over," Zell boasted smugly. Well, that was kind of true, in a way.

Rinoa took the ring from Zell and held it up infront of her, to the light. She gazed at it for a few seconds, then slipped it over one of her fingers.

"It looks cool," she said. "But it's too big."

"Guys!" Selphie interrupted urgently, as motorcycles and students continued to race past them. "Come _on_!"

But before the group could move again, there was a huge collision between the two gardens, and Balamb Garden rocked unsteadily. A huge crack formed at one end of the quad, and in a few split seconds, was heading towards the group, and a huge piece of the building broke off and gave way beneath Rinoa's feet. She yelped, then slid down the broken, rocky wall of the Garden and managed to grab onto a small ledge. She peered over her shoulder at the ground, far below, and the deadly spinning propeller directly beneath her.

"_Help!_" she cried up to her friends, already feeling the strain on her fingers as she held on tightly to the ledge of stone.

Zell was already lying flat on his front against the cool surface of the quad, stretching an arm out in an attempt to grab Rinoa's hand, but she was way too far down.

"DAMMIT!" he swore, climbing back onto his feet. "I can't reach her!"

"We gotta pull her up somehow!" Selphie cried desperately. "A rope or something!"

Zell carefully leant over the edge a little.

"Rinoa! Hold on!" he called out to her. "We'll be right back!"

Meanwhile, Squall had moved from the bridge down to the main foyer, after being informed by Xu that Galbadian troops were coming in from the front entrance.

Zell skidded into the foyer, closely followed by Selphie, just as Squall, Irvine and Quistis came running down the steps from the lift.

"Squall!" Zell shouted. "Rinoa's in trouble!"

"She's gonna fall of the Garden!" Selphie added in a hurried voice.

__

"Shit!" Squall swore in his head, as Nida's voice came out over the speaker system.

__

"Squall, listen up! The enemy is attacking the classroom," Nida informed him. _"The junior classmen are there. We have to do something fast!"_

There was yet another collision between the two Gardens and everyone wobbled about, nearly losing their balance.

"The enemy's heading this way!" Xu cried.

"Squall, DID YOU HEAR ME?!" Zell screamed in desperation, so furious that veins were popping up underneath his tattoo.

"YEAH!" Squall shouted right back at him. "But she's not the only one in danger!"

Zell's temper grew even worse and he wrenched Squall forward by his fluffy collar.

"RINOA IS GONNA DIE!" he burst, mere centimeteres away from Squall's face. "DON'T YOU REALISE THAT?!"

"I KNOW!" Squall screeched at him, and roughly shoved him away. "Now let's just calm down for a second!"

Panting, he straightened out his jacket and turned to face everyone. Everyone was deadly silent after Zell's incredible outburst.

"Selphie," Squall said breathlessly, taking in a gulp of air, "You go with Xu."

"Gothca," Selphie said quietly and nodded.

"Quistis, Irvine," he said, turning to each of them as he said their name, "Come with me. We'll head for the classroom."

Lastly, he turned to Zell.

"Zell, help Rinoa," he commanded, then uncharactersically placed both hands on Zell's shoulders. "Do whatever it takes, alright?! _Whatever it takes!_"

"Leave it to me!" Zell said proudly and punched his chest, then everyone raced off in different directions.

Over at Galbadia Garden, green soldiers dressed in flying armour dropped from a compartment, tumbling down towards the propeller, but quickly deploying rockets and flying towards Balamb Garden. Their armour punch nails into the Garden, and they absailed down, clinging onto ropes produced from their armour. The two paratroopers smashed through a window and into the classroom, where Squall and his team were waiting.

"Dispose of this Garden as planned!" one of the paratroopers shouted.

"Dispose?!" Irvine repeated, wrinkling his brow in confusion. He whipped out his shotgun and fired one of the paratroopers, who stumbled backwards.

"You little SeeD twerps!" another paratrooper said, lunging forwards towards Quistis with his blade. Quistis flicked up her chain whip, skillfully wrapping it round the blade, and effortlessly tossing it to one side. She then whipped the paratrooper around the face, and he stumbled back in pain.

"Good work," Squall nodded to a male SeeD, who stood infront of two quivering junior classmen. "Take them somewhere safe."

"Yes, sir!" the SeeD stood up and quickly led the juniors out of the classroom.

__

"Squall! Squall!" Nida shouted through the speaker system.

__

"Now what?" Squall thought irritably. He couldn't believe all the chaos that was happening around him.

__

"Come up to the bridge," Nida said. _"Dr. Kadowaki is here."_

"What does **she** want?" Squall thought, bemused, just as the Garden's collided for the fourth time, with a shuddering bang that echoed into every room.

Squall ran up to the bridge.

"What's the situation?" Dr. Kadowaki asked, an expression of incredible seriousness on her face.

"We were able to stop the first two waves of the attack," Squall reported. "But our forces aren't looking too good. Many are injured. If they send another wave, I don't know if we can hold them."

"How's your team?" Dr. Kadowaki asked, and Squall hadn't even noticed her come in, but Selphie was stood right behind him.

"Bad," she panted. "They're barely holding them off."

"So," Dr. Kadowaki said grimly. "Looks like this is it."

"Their Garden has more experienced fighters," Quistis confirmed. "Most of our troops are students who are still in training. Like Squall said … one more wave, and we're finished."

__

"Maybe I should've focused on attacking in the beginning instead of concentrating our defense…" Squall thought, but there was no time for regrets.

"Seifer is with them, right?" Dr. Kadowaki asked, turning back to Squall and breaking his thoughts. "You said it yourself, Squall. There's no way you can run from him. It's your destiny to face him. And it looks like it's now or never! You've come this far already, so what is there to think about? You're not going to run away, are you?"

"Never!" Squall replied, striking out at the air with his arm. "There's no way I'm gonna run from him! Besides, attacking them is our only chance. But how are we going to board their Garden?"

"Say," Irvine piped up, after being very quiet for the last ten minutes or so, "How about if we crash into their Garden? I know it sounds crazy, but we'll be able to get in. Their pilot has been ramming us all along! I'm sure Nida can do it, too."

"We have no choice," Squall shrugged, turning to Nida. "Let's do it."

Nida nodded and turned to the steering mechanism as Zell ran in.

"Where's Rinoa?" Squall asked immediately.

"Sorry, man," Zell apologised, "There's nothin' I can do! There's no way to get to the quad! Those bastards have the area barricaded. Man! The only way we can get to her is by going over the roof or flying there."

"Rinoa," Squall bit his lip while he wondered what to do.

"Whoa, wait a minute," Irvine said angrily, stepping forward. "You just gave up on her?!"

Squall didn't meet his gaze.

"Listen," Irvine said impatiently, grabbing Squall's shoulders to make them face each other. "Do me a favour. YOU go and help Rinoa. It may be too late, but don't give up until you're CERTAIN that there's nothing more you can do!"

"But – but I have to lead the attack," Squall stammered.

"I don't give a _damn_ what you have to do, or how you feel!" Irvine retorted, then lowered his voice. "Look, just do it. Please! For Rinoa."

"He's right, Squall," Quistis said quietly. "She's one of us."

"What are you waiting for?!" Selphie joined in. "I can't believe you!"

"C'mon, Squall! Please!" Zell begged. "It's gotta be you! You're the only one that can save her!"

"I'll take everyone inside Galbadia Garden," Irvine offered, then smiled a little. "Don't worry. I know the place like the back of my hand."

"We'll clear a path," Quistis added. "Once Squall arrives, we'll move in."

"Squall," Dr. Kadowaki said, and gestured for him to go up to the control panel. "You're forgetting something very important."

"What?" Squall asked curiously, as he stepped over.

"Talk to them, Squall," she said sincerely, pointing to the microphone. "Encourage them. As their leader, it's your duty. You probably don't know, but everybody in Garden looks up to you. They like you."

This comment caught Squall totally off-guard.

__

"Everybody…Everybody likes me?" the phrase echoed in his mind and filled him up with something he had never properly felt before: pride.

He leant across to the microphone and once again, his voice came out through the speaker system in all corners of the Garden.

"Everybody…" he began. "This is Squall. How's everyone doing? You're all probably too tired to even stand up after all the fighting. But I want everyone to listen to me … We still have a chance to win, and I need your help. This is going to be our final battle. We're going to attack them before them come in again. To do that, we're going to head straight into their Garden, so I want everyone to prepare for a major collision. Take care of all the junior classmen. Irvine, Quistis, Zell and Selphie will lead the attack into their Garden. Everyone else, please support them as best you can."

He paused here, and looked round at the others, who all gave him encouraging smiles.

"SeeD was formed to fight the sorceress; at least, that's what I heard. And Garden was created to train SeeDs. So this battle is our destiny. It's a grueling battle, and I'm sure you guys are all exhausted. But I don't want to have any regrets. I don't want anyone to look back and regret this day. So just this once, I want you guys to give everything you've got! For yourselves … for Garden … and for me!"

"You did great," Dr. Kadowaki said, placing a kind hand on his shoulder. "OK! Let's bash into them!"

Nida steered a hard right, crashing Balamb Garden right into Galbadia Garden. Zell, Selphie, Quistis and Irvine all leapt off the bridge, and onto the cold, blood red-coloured metal surface.

"OHHHH YEAHHH!" Zell shouted gleefully. "We're in!"

"Ready guys?!" Quistis asked her comrades.

"You betcha!" Selphie answered, and as the group headed bravely towards an entrance, they all had simeltanious thoughts, brought on by Squall's positive speech.

__

"For me and Selphie!"

"This is it! For the world!"

"For Balamb and Trabia!"

"It's payback time, baby!"

Then Zell shouted aloud: "Let's ROCK!"


	36. The Battle With Matron

Back on Balamb Garden, Squall was making his way down the corridor of the second floor classroom, and it slowly dawned upon him that he had no idea where to even _start_ helping Rinoa.

But before he could panic or worry, a Galbadian Paratrooper burst in through the deck door in a flying armored suit, and hovered menacingly in front of Squall, who was stood in his way.

"MOVE!" the soldier shouted, and rammed into Squall, trapping him against an emergency exit.

Squall didn't know what to do, but realised it had to be one of four options – shout for help, run away, threaten the enemy, or open the emergency exit.

He decided to go for the last option, and tapped the button to release the emergency exit. Squall and the paratrooper tumbled out of the door, a yellow rubber slide opening up beneath them, but instead of sliding down it, the armored suit flew up into the air on a gust of wind, circling the two Gardens with Squall and the paratrooper hanging on for dear life.

Beneath them, Balamb's SeeDs and Galbadian soldiers were fighting, in an amazing, chaotic battle scene. Squall looked around, managed to work out where the quad was from his current position, and tilted the armored flying machine in that direction. Without any warning, the paratrooper suddenly lashed out and struck Squall across his face.

"Ugh!" Squall nearly lost his grip, but luckily managed to steady himself. He retaliated with a strong kick, and sent the paratrooper hurtling toward the ground with a long, loud cry. Pathetic.

As the air around him blew his hair and clothes wildly, Squall squinted into the distance and saw a pale blue figure. It was, of course, Rinoa, still clinging bravely onto the edge of the remains of the quad. He again tilted the armor into her direction, and began to steadily move towards her. Climbing up from the rope and positioning himself inside the mechanical suit, he then dangled the cable down in front of Rinoa, who grabbed it and steadied her foot in a hoop at the very end of the wire cable.

Squall heard Rinoa laughing giddily with delight and relief, and although she was scared to be flying so unassisted through the air, she trusted Squall with her safety. She grinned, flicked back her hair, and enjoyed the unusual ride as Squall transported them to a quiet, unmarked spot of Galbadia Garden.

Rinoa hopped down off the cable, landing graciously on her feet, and Squall leapt from the paratrooper's armored suit, leaving it to make a crash landing into a nearby tree, crumpling up into a useless heap.

"Over there!" Rinoa gasped breathlessly with excitement, pointing to a hidden, secluded door. "There's an entrance!"

She jogged over to the safe area near the door, and Squall followed her, admiring her remarkable eyesight and observation. With all the action that had been going on, he was too panicked to have been able to spot something like that.

"Squall!" Rinoa beamed, resisting an overwhelming urge to hug him. "Thank you!" And she truly meant it.

"It was, ah…" Squall looked up at her, feeling slightly embarrassed, although he wasn't sure why, and rubbed the back of his neck, which he was surprised to discover was a little sweaty. "It was my job, so … don't worry about it. We're still under contract, remember? And it was everybody else's idea, too. And - and I just happened to find you. That's all. So, like I said … um … don't worry about it."

Rinoa smiled and privately thought to herself how sweet Squall sounded, making up excuses. He was usually so articulate and uncaring, and she loved to listen to the _real_ Squall, who spoke from the heart, even if he did sound a little silly.

"You know something," she said softly, her dark eyes still glistening with excitement, "I couldn't afford to fall off that cliff and die. I have something very important that belongs to you. I can't die until I give it back to you, right? Zell gave it to me. I've been holding onto it, see?"

She brushed some hair behind an ear, her golden highlights catching the rays of the sun, then pulled something out of her pocket and held it up to Squall. It was his ring.

__

"I'm gonna kill him," Squall thought angrily and gritted his teeth together.

"That's my favorite ring!" he said, loudly and bossily, like a child. "You'd better give it back!"

"I'm sure it is. It's a cool-looking ring," Rinoa remarked casually, then looked at it more closely again. "What's this monster on it, anyway?"

"It's not a _monster_," Squall replied, slightly offended. "It's a lion. Lions are known for their great strength and pride."

Rinoa, who was playing with the ring, slipping it on and off each finger and twirling it around, looked up at Squall through her thick fringe and gave him what he could have sworn was a flirtatious smile.

"Hmm," she mused, lips pressed together in a cheeky pout. "Great strength, pride … Kinda like you, Squall."

"I wish," Squall scoffed, hand resting on one hip. He looked away as he said it, not wanting to meet Rinoa's longing gaze.

"Hmm," Rinoa said again, looking back down at the ring. "So, this _lion_ of yours … Does it have a name?"

"Of course," Squall said, deciding it was now safe to look back at her for a few seconds. "It's called Griever."

"So, that's what you call it," Rinoa paused for a moment in thought. "Griever … a grieving lion?"

She was giving him that look again.

"Yeah," Squall said and uncomfortably shifted his weight from one foot to the other, staring down at his feet.

"You know, Zell said he'll make me one exactly like it," Rinoa announced loudly, changing the subject a little. She turned her head and gazed dreamily off into the distance. "Who knows, maybe I can become like a lion, too…"

__

"What **is** she yapping on about?" Squall sighed quietly to himself.

"That'd be _crazy_, huh!?" Rinoa blurted out with a huge, giddy laugh. "I mean, everyone might, y'know, get the wrong idea about us!"

Squall couldn't help but smile, and look at her. He hadn't noticed, but in the past half a minute or so she had taken a few steps closer to him.

"You sound like you _want _everyone to get the wrong idea," he smirked, crossing his arms over his chest protectively. It was an action he did often that he wasn't actually aware of – something he did subconsciously to shut out people that tried to get close to him.

"No-no-no-no-_no_!" Rinoa closed her eyes and shook her head wildly, and imitated the movement with both hands, very defensively. "Don't be silly."

"Well, everyone's waiting," Squall decided it was time to break off this little conversation, and gestured to the door behind him, then thought of a little joke, which was very unlike him. "Rinoa, you wait here."

"Big meany!" Rinoa laughed, and gave him a playful shove on his arm. She walked past him, stopped by the door, then turned back to face him with a smile, her head tilted to one side. "Come on, then, Mister Leader."

She pushed the door open and disappeared from sight. Squall stopped for a few moments to realise what he'd just done. He'd made a joke.

__

"Rinoa," he thought, _"Everyone is trying to get us together, including you yourself. It's so obvious even **I** can tell."_

Squall wasn't consciously aware of it, but a huge grin had spread across his entire face.

"Rinoa!" Selphie cheered breathlessly and ran over to hug her friend. "You're here!"

"Are you alright?" Quistis asked, nervously winding her whip around her wrist.

"I'm fine, thanks to Squall," she nodded, gesturing back to him. He stopped a few steps behind her, then waved to everyone and had a quick look around just as Irvine stepped out from a nearby corridor.

"The sorceress should be here somewhere," he explained, and tilted his hat to Squall to acknowledge him.

"There's no turning back now," Squall announced. "Forget about the past! She's our enemy now! Don't think twice for a second. There's no way we can fight her like that. I, for one, can't. She chose to fight and became our enemy. We chose to fight back. We have no choice. At least I'd like to think so."

He paused and looked around at everyone, staring at him blankly.

__

"Seems like I'm the only one confused," he realised.

"Well, um, we've come this far. I guess there's really no need for me to say anything," he concluded, feeling slightly embarrassed for rambling on so much.

"We're still listening," Rinoa put in reassuringly. "Squall, we want to know how you feel."

"I'll tell you later," Squall replied, "After we all get out of this, but it's not important right now. Irvine, can you lead us around?"

"Sure," Irvine nodded, without any hesitation. "I have just about as much idea where the sorceress might be as you guys do – but I guess we should start by heading to the second floor."

No one said anything as Irvine lead the group down one of the many, identical steel corridors. They seemed so cold, and the air was eerily silent. The only noise was their footsteps gently tapping on the metal floor, following the red patterns on the surface. Irvine turned and lead them up a staircase, and everyone was very surprised to see Raijin and Fujin stood at the top of it. Raijin was talking.

"Let's just go," he was saying glumly to Fujin. "Let's just get it other with, ya know?"

He looked up as Fujin turned to face Squall's group, who had just reached the head of the winding staircase.

"REQUEST," Fujin said, in her usual manner.

"We're leavin' Seifer up to you now, ya know?," Rujin told them, looking tired and pained. "We don't know what's going on anymore, ya know? We just want the old Seifer back … ya know?"

__

"There's no way Seifer can go back now," Squall thought, but instead he just replied: "Alright."

"FATIGUED," Fujin said with a heavy sigh, and the pair made their way down the corridor.

"This way," Irvine instructed, heading for a lift. "We'll go to the Headmaster's office, on the third floor."

Sure enough, as they entered the Headmaster's office, a large dark room, Seifer Almasy was there waiting for them. Upon hearing the group enter, he turned around.

"Oh, you guys shouldn't have," he said mockingly. "I was gonna come visit you at my old home."

"Shut up," Squall said bluntly, glaring at his life-long rival, then a figure behind Seifer caught his eye.

Sorceress Edea, Edea Kramer, Headmaster Cid's wife and their old Matron, was sitting on a throne-like creation right at the back of the room, on a raised platform. She appeared to be asleep; her eyes were closed and she hardly seemed to be breathing.

"Did you guys come to fight Matron?" Seifer choked, putting on a pretend pained voice and pointing to her. "After _all_ she's done for us?"

He let out a loud, fake sob then roared with laughter, and then without saying anything, whipped out his gunblade. He swirled it round very threateningly, then strode over to Selphie and whispered in her ear. She squirmed; he was standing uncomfortably close to her.

"The little messenger girl … Selphie, right?" he whispered hauntingly, and she felt shivers down her spine. "I wish we had time to get to know each other."

"Nahh," Selphie replied bravely. "You're not my type."

"Instructor Trepe!" Seifer suddenly shouted, stepping over to her while bouncing his gunblade that rested over his shoulder. "I'm still one of your … _dearest_ students, aren't I?"

"You never were," Quistis spat, eyeing him up and down with disgust.

Seifer suddenly looked up at Irvine, only then realising who he was. He jabbed his thumb at him.

"Hey, you're a Galbadian student!" he said in surprise, motioning for Irvine to come and stand next to him. "Get over here!"

"I'm happy right here, thank you," Irvine sneered sarcastically.

Seifer shrugged this off, apparently not caring, then swirled round to face Zell.

"Hey Chicken-wuss!" he hissed through a toothful, manic grin. "Lot's happened between us, eh?"

"Yeah!" Zell agreed, raising his fists. "And I'm dyin' to get even!"

Finally, Seifer turned to the last member of the group, with a frightfully sneaky smile.

"Rinoa, what are _you_ doing here?" he asked softly, standing behind her and sliding his gunblade dangerously close to her body. He rested his head on her shoulder and pouted mockingly, while making puppy-dog eyes. "You're gonna fight me, too? Come on, remember a year ago we-"

"Stop it!" Rinoa screamed and ran a few steps forward, trying to get away from him.

"It's too late, Seifer," Squall said, tugging on Rinoa's arm so she was safely standing next to him. "You can't mess with our minds. To us, you're just another enemy, like one of those monsters."

"You're comparing ME to one of them?" Seifer gaped. "I ain't no monster! I'm the _sorceress' knight_."

Even with all that had been going on, Edea had never made a movement, or opened her eyes.

"And look at you!" Seifer continued, waving his gunblade around at the group, "Attacking like a swarm! You guys are the monsters! So I should fight you. All of you."

"We accept that challenge!" Quistis said, taking her whip from her belt and cracking it loudly on the floor.

"Wait, Seifer!" Squall strode forward while reaching for his gunblade. "_We're_ the rivals here. I don't want anyone else to get hurt because of it. Let's settle this here, now. Just you and me."

Seifer wiped his mouth with the back of a gloved hand.

"Show me what you got," he taunted, raising his gunblade. "And I'll show you who's the better man!"

The two young men both leapt forward with their weapons, and the gunblades clashed together. Seifer swung low; Squall blocked it, Squall struck high; Seifer blocked it. This went on for a few moments, and it was exactly how Quistis had thought, right from the very beginning – Squall and Seifer were in a league of their own.

"Is that all you got?!" Seifer laughed, after successfully blocking no less than five strikes from Squall.

So Squall decided to take a different approach, raising one arm up high and casting a powerful Firaga spell on Seifer, who stumbled backwards.

"I can't be beaten!" he raged, climbing to his feet and casting a Demi spell. This caused Squall to become slightly unsteady on his feet, and he suddenly felt very queasy, but kept his composure.

He lunged forward again with his gunblade, striking out with all his strength, and managed to deliver a potentially deadly blow to Seifer, catching him across the collar bone area. Seifer fell back in pain, clutching his chest.

"This can't be!" he cried, staring down at his blood-stained glove. "Why?!"

"Worthless child," an evil voice muttered, and the group looked up to see that Edea was awake. She slowly rose to her feet, her short white cape fluttering behind her, and crossed her arms over her chest, descending through the floor.

"The auditorium is right below!" Irvine informed the group, and everyone began to quickly leave.

Lying on his back, coughing and spluttering, Seifer raised his head up slightly with a crazy grin.

"There's no way you guys can beat her," he breathed, finally collapsing fully onto the floor with a sigh.

Without saying a word to each other, Squall and his friends followed Irvine down into the auditorium, a huge hall filled with row after row of blood-red chairs, with a presentation screen and table right at the very front of the room.

__

"What's going on?" Squall thought, as the group slowed their pace.

Just as he opened his mouth to speak, sorceress Edea appeared through the ceiling, shattering the glass screen with a mighty crashing sound. Unhurt, she landed gracefully on her feet.

"So the time has come," she said, her purple lips moving slowly as she spoke. "You're the legendary SeeD destined to face me?"

Squall was confused … what was she talking about?

"I must say that I am impressed," Edea admitted, and she took time over speaking every word very slowly and clearly. "...An impressive _nuisance_. Your life ends here, SeeD."

Just then, Seifer stumbled in, clutching the damaged skin just below his neck. Edea looked down her nose at him with disgust.

"Worthless fool," she spat, and slowly raised her arms up into the air.

__

"You're not our Matron," Squall thought bitterly, as everyone in the group reached for their individual weapons.

"All SeeDs must perish!" Edea screeched, louder than she had ever spoken before.

Squall held his gunblade in a fighting stance, ready to strike, but Seifer stood in front of Edea, protecting her.

"I'm the sorceress' knight," he panted, using his free hand to limply hold up his gunblade. "You'll never … get past me."

Seifer was in no condition to fight. Blood was still gushing from the long, open wound than ran all the way across his chest from the right shoulder, down to his left armpit. His vest had been sliced open, his coat was dirty and singed from Squall's Firaga spell … he was a disgrace.

"I can't afford to lose," he said gallantly, but it only took one quick fire from Rinoa's Blaster Edge, a crack from Quistis' whip and a few harsh punches from Zell, before he fell back down to the floor.

"Ughaah!" he cried out as he collapsed onto his knees. "Matron, forgive me. I am … disgraced."

"Defeated...Useless fool," Edea called him again, and she cast a spell which very roughly launched him into the air, and threw him across to the other end of the room, where he collided with a wall. Rinoa and a few of the other girls screamed as they heard his bones crack against the concrete and he slumped to the floor, motionless.

"Enough play," Edea announced. "SeeDs must die!"

It was a tough, fierce battle. Each member of the group struck at Edea with all their might, but it didn't even seem to scratch her. They battled using their magic, but she responded with magic three times stronger. They called upon their Guardian Forces to help, but she knocked them out with one move.

It was all seeming utterly hopeless, when without warning, the sorceress emitted a pink light, and Squall realised that he couldn't move.

__

"What happened...?" he wondered dreamily, not being able to move from his position, which was lying on his side on the cool floor. _"My...body..."_

Rinoa's feet appeared in front of him, and she swayed uncontrollably from side to side, as she made her way over to where Seifer was lying. In a daze, she knelt down next to him.

__

"Rinoa…" Squall longed to reach out and grab her, pull her away from him again, but he couldn't move a single muscle, he could barely even see clearly.

Completely entranced, Rinoa placed one hand on Sefier's shoulder, the other on his chest, and gently kissed him.

__

"Rinoa...Seifer..." Squall hoped desperately that this was all some kind of bad dream.

Incredibly, Seifer rose to his feet and calmly walked away. With an echoing bump, Rinoa fell onto the floor, and Quistis came running to her aid.

"Rinoa?!" she shouted, trying to help the girl up, but she didn't respond. "Are you all right? _Rinoa!_"

Squall then heard Edea speak, and her voice had suddenly changed. It was like a different person now, she was calm, and gentle. Every word she spoke echoed in Squall's mind.

"Squall, Quistis, Selphie. Irvine, Zell," she began, and Squall knew that this was not Edea anymore. It was Matron. "You've all grown so much...and become so strong … I have waited for this day to come. And also feared this day would come. Is today a joyous day? Or an odious day?"

__

"...I don't understand," Squall thought, feeling his consciousness beginning to slip away from him.

"Where is Ellone?!" Matron suddenly shouted out. "Have I protected Ellone?!"

"Squall!" Quistis cried out in desperation. "It's Rinoa..."

__

"......Rinoa?" the name echoed in Squall's mind as a tear escaped his eyes before they drooped and finally closed. There was only darkness now, and a terrible echoing that filled his ears.

__

"What's wrong with Rinoa?"


	37. Rinoa

__

"Is it over...?"

"What happened...?"

"Rinoa......"

"What happened to Rinoa......?"

Squall was lying in his bed, staring up at the ceiling. He'd been there for five hours now, just gazing at the same spot. He'd counted all fifty-two tiles on his dormitory ceiling, eighteen times over. Or was it nineteen?

It didn't matter anyway, because just as he started counting again, Quistis' voice crackled into life over the speaker system. She sounded very sombre and dull.

"Squall, can you hear me?" she asked. "We need you up on the bridge. We're going to head to Edea's House. The Sorceress Ede – um, _Matron_ … is back at the orphanage."

It seemed to take all of Squall's energy to heave himself up off his bed, but he managed it, and after wiping his tired, aching and damp eyes, began the long, slow walk up onto the bridge. He couldn't help but overhear students' conversations as he walked, but none of it really sank in.

"Hey...Is it really over?"

"The Garden is becoming so lonely. So many people dropped out..."

"I thought it was the end for me when we had to fight with the other Garden."

"Is the scary stuff over? It's over, right?"

__

"All stupid talk," Squall thought bitterly. _"Everyone depending on each other … look, it's over. No need to talk about it."_

He reached the bridge, where Quistis and the others had already been waiting for at least ten minutes.

"Matron is back at the house," Quistis told Squall again.

He nodded glumly, and Quistis whispered something to Nida, who began steering the Garden.

"The Sorceress Edea...Our Matron...I wanna hear what she has to say," Zell mused aloud, then pulled Squall to one side as the others began to chat.

"Uhhh...Um, how's Rinoa doin'?" he struggled to ask. "She still in a coma?"

Squall nodded slowly.

"Look, don't take it too hard. She'll snap out of it eventually," Zell offered, trying to sound as optimistic as possible.

Squall nodded a second time, and Zell turned back to the others, leaving Squall to be alone with his thoughts.

Edea's house wasn't actually that far away. If the battle hadn't broken out between the two Gardens, they would have reached it in only half an hour or so. They just had to fly over the now destroyed forest, travel a little over the rocky ground, and there it was, on the coast next to a lighthouse. The orphanage.

"...I feel uncomfortable seeing her," Quistis admitted as the team approached the desolate building.

"I'll go after you, Squall," Selphie said, pushing him forward. "Ok, ok?"

Without saying a word, Squall lead the group up a path or circular slabs.

"We're meeting the Matron," Zell shuddered slightly. "M-Man, I'm nervous."

"There's so much we want to ask her," Irvine put in, looking around at their surroundings.

Squall pushed open the front door carefully, afraid that the rotting wood might detach from its hinges, and stepped into the house. The smell was similar to rain, and through all the smashed and broken bricks, weeds and flowers had blossomed over the years.

Headmaster Cid was standing in the room, as if he had been expecting them.

"Squall," he greeted him with a handshake. "...Many thanks for your hard work."

He chuckled to himself as Squall frowned at him.

"Are you angry with me?" he asked. "Hahaha...I don't blame you. All I do is talk big, but in times of trouble, I run away. But I was in a no-win situation, you see. Your defeat would be the end of you. Your victory would mean losing my wife. I just couldn't bear to face either circumstance. I don't care about myself, but … please forgive Edea."

Squall paused for a moment to absorb all this as Cid pointed to a door that lead outside, onto the beach. Squall then lead the group outside onto the soft sand, where Edea was waiting.

Her eyes were sunken into her skull; she looked dead. She had removed the exotic make-up she previously wore everyday, but not well, there were black circles under her eyes that aged her greatly. Her skin was pale, and she had removed all the exquisite garments and ornamental accessories, now dressed in a simple, torn, black dress. Squall could hardly bear to look at her.

"My children," she rasped, her throat aching from crying, "Please forgive me. I raised you as my own, yet still, I..." she choked, and held back a sob.

"We feel the same way," Squall said comfortingly.

"We fought you, too, knowing you were our Matron," Zell said.

"You are SeeDs. You cannot back out of a battle, I know," Edea looked up at the group very fondly. "You are magnificent. However, it is not over yet. At anytime, I may..."

Edea broke down, and Cid, who had also come outside, wrapped his arms around her. Squall looked down at the floor, not knowing what to say or do.

Eventually Edea composed herself, and wiped her fragile eyes with a cloth Cid had given her.

"...I have been possessed all this time," she revealed gravely. "I was at the mercy of Sorceress Ultimecia."

Everyone gasped, but Squall just looked on at her, waiting for more.

"Ultimecia is a sorceress from the future," Edea explained as clearly as she could. "A sorceress many generations ahead of our time. Ultimecia's objective is to find Ellone. She is after Ellone's mysterious power. I know Ellone very well."

"Ultimecia is a very fearful sorceress," Cid helped her along. "Her heart is filled with anger and hate."

"There was no way I was going to let Ultimecia get a hold of Ellone," Edea shook her head, remembering. "So I surrendered my soul to Ultimecia, and lost control of my mind. That was the only way I could save Ellone. And the end result …" she looked off into the distance, her sentence trailing away. "Well, you all know."

"What can we –" Selphie began, but Edea raised up a hand, asking her to stop.

"Please, let me finish," she asked. "The sorceress that appeared in Galbadia was in fact Ultimecia, inside my shell. Ultimecia has yet to achieve her goal, so I believe she may use my body again to carry out her plans. I plan to make a stand this time, but ... if that does not work ... I may have to face you in battle once again. I ask for your support, young SeeDs."

Everyone looked at each other, not knowing how to reply.

"Have you all heard of Sorceress Adel before?" Edea asked, sounding a little brighter.

"She was the ruler of Esthar during the Sorceress War. No one knows of her whereabouts," Zell recited from a history book. "That's what I learned."

"The Galbadians must have thought I was the sorceress who received Sorceress Adel's powers. However, that is not the case. I received the powers of the previous sorceress at the age of 5," Edea informed the group, who were hanging off her every word.

"I don't quite understand," Irvine butted in, with a confused frown. "What does Adel have to do with it?"

"I believe Sorceress Adel is still alive," Edea told them. "And that Ultimecia released my body in order to use the body of Sorceress Adel. Sorceress Adel is the type who will not hesitate to use her powers for her own selfish desires. Should Sorceress Ultimecia from the future bequeath her anger and hatred unto Adel, their power would be unimaginable..." she trailed off again.

"I've heard enough," Squall said rudely, shocking everyone. There was only one thing he cared about. "Matron, do you know what's wrong with Rinoa?"

"Rinoa is the girl in light blue?" Edea checked, and Squall nodded, with his lips pressed together furiously. "I remember vaguely...What happened to her?"

"She was with us when we fought you. But after the battle…" Squall was struggling to find words.

__

"Don't cry!" he scolded himself. _"Just concentrate on what you have to say."_

"H-Her body was cold," he explained, fighting back tears. "She didn't move-"

"Did Rinoa die?!" Cid exclaimed, and Squall lashed out an arm.

"NO!!!" he yelled, but luckily didn't strike anyone.

"Forgive me, Squall," Edea sighed heavily. "I don't think I can be of any help."

"…It's all right," Squall said, calming down. He couldn't believe the way he was acting around Matron and the Headmaster.

"Squall, I understand how you feel. But you are in a position of leadership," Cid reminded the teenager. "The other students at Garden have a right to know about the outcome of the battle and what's to come next. Take the information we have given you back to Garden. Remember, it wasn't just Rinoa. Everyone fought."

"I understand," Squall retorted, opening out his hands in a pleading gesture. "But..."

"But, but, _but_!" Cid said firmly, stamping his foot on the ground in a move that shocked everyone. "That isn't something a leader should say."

Squall angrily kicked his foot at the ground, lightly spraying sand around his ankles. The others began to return to the conversation, trying to figure everything out.

"Ultimecia's objective is to find Ellone," someone said. Squall didn't see who, he wasn't looking, or even listening.

**__**

"The first time we met was the day I became a SeeD. We met again...in Timber..."

"Ellone's mysterious power...Sending one's consciousness back into the past."

"So, Ultimecia wants to use Ellone's power, right?"

**__**

"We had a lot of arguments at first. But in time, things began to change."

"Ohh, I get it! Ultimecia wants to send her consciousness from this period further into the past."

"What's she going to do in the past?"

**__**

"You were looking at me...You smiled when our eyes met."

"Time compression."

"Time compression?"

****

"It made me feel calm, tranquil."

"It's time magic. Past, present, and future get compressed."

"What's going to happen to the world? Why do something like that?"

**__**

"Rinoa...Give me another chance."

"I can't even imagine a world where time is compressed!"

**__**

"Please, Rinoa…"

"Yo, Squall!" Zell shouted, and everyone turned to look at their leader.

"You're not even listening!" Selphie sighed in despair.

"Yes, I was," Squall lied. "So basically, all we have to do is prevent Ultimecia from getting a hold of

Ellone. No big deal," Squall shrugged.

"Yes, but-" Quistis began, but Squall cut her off.

"We're going back to Garden," he snapped. "We have to let everyone know."

"Hey, we're worried about Rinoa too, y'know?" Irvine told him softly.

"Then why don't _you_-" he began to raise his voice, then just huffed. "Oh, forget it! I'm going back."

"That about covers the update," Squall was saying through the speaker system. It had been five minutes since he'd stomped off and returned to Garden. "Our task at hand is to find Ellone. Then we'll deal with Ultimecia. I believe that Ellone is on the White SeeD ship. We're setting out to look for it, but we don't know where it is, so we're going to gather information for a while. Be prepared for battle at any time. And ... Sorceress Edea is back at her home. She's not our enemy anymore. Let's just leave her alone."

The microphone clicked off, and Squall was left alone on the bridge with Quistis. The others had gone to eat and rest.

"Is Rinoa in the infirmary?" Quistis asked while innocently brushing a clump of hair behind her ear, even though she knew very well where Rinoa was. But at least she was making conversation. "I think I'll go visit her later."

"Whatever," Squall muttered, and rudely pushed past her, into the lift. Quistis watched him go with a sigh.

Squall knew deep in his heart that everyone just wanted to help and support him, but he just became more and more annoyed at their pointless chatter. He wanted to get away from everyone. He wanted to see Rinoa.

Squall stomped into the Infirmary. Dr. Kadowaki wasn't there – she must have been tending to a student elsewhere in the Garden.

Rinoa was lying motionless on the bed, the same bed Squall had woken up on before all this mess happened, when he had been fighting with Seifer.

"Rinoa," he said under his breath, clutching her delicate hand. It was very pale. "You feel so cold. Are you going to be like this forever?"

Of course, Rinoa didn't say anything. She just lay there, with her hands clasped neatly together on her chest. She looked like an angel.

"Isn't there _anything _I can do?!" Squall cried out in despair. "You were so full of life! Now you don't even make a sound...I just want to hear your voice."

Squall didn't even know why he was blurting all this out, it was like talking to a wall. But it felt right, somehow.

"Rinoa...Call my name," he pleaded, before he collapsed onto the bed, and entered the dream world.

"Why the heck do I have to do this?" Laguna whined.

"'Cause we have no money," Kiros replied. Ward, as usual, didn't say anything.

Laguna, Kiros and Ward were stood on a large ledge at the bottom of a mountain. The terrain was fairly rocky, but a pathway had been defined over the years.

"Alright!" Laguna surrendered, feeling uncomfortable at them both staring at him. "I'm sorry! Yeah, so it's kinda my fault that we stayed at the hotel so often…But heck, I'm not cut out to be an _actor_!"

"So you say, but we know you're really quite excited," Kiros smirked.

"Ok everyone! Take your positions!" the movie director called out. Across from the three men, the director and his filming crew had created the set and were just finishing displaying the lights and cameras.

"Man, I can't believe this director - making a movie with me, an amateur," Laguna muttered. "What the heck am I supposed to do?"

Ward looked at him.

"Alright, alright," Laguna said again. "So we were lucky I got the job. As long as we make some money, right?"

Ward reached over and out of a large case, pulled out a knight's uniform made (very badly) out of cardboard and tin foil.

"A-Are you serious!?" Laguna's jaw dropped as Ward handed him the suit. "What kind of costume is _this_!?"

"Ah, ah, ah...No complaining!" Kiros gave Laguna a shove forward onto the set after he'd pulled on the weird outfit. "Let's go, let's go, let's go!"

"Hey, look at you," the director grinned from behind a large camera. "Not bad."

"This is your co-star, playing the part of the sorceress," the director introduced Laguna to a young woman.

"Hi, nice to meet you!" she greeted him friendly.

"All we need now is someone to play the dragon," the director murmured thoughtfully. Just then, Kiros unknowingly followed Laguna onto the set.

"Oh, perfect!" the director couldn't believe his luck, and pointed to Kiros and Ward. "Hey, you two back there!"

"Yes?" Kiros asked, and Ward looked up.

"I'm kinda in a squeeze here," the director explained anxiously. "The guy playing the dragon is sick...Do you think you could put on the dragon costume and kinda just...walk down here? I'll pay ya…"

"Uh, I guess so," Kiros agreed reluctantly, but he could hardly say no after the lecture he'd just given Laguna about needing money. He lead Ward off the set to go and collect the dragon costume.

"Ok, just be on standby over there," the director instructed them as they left, then disappeared again behind his camera. "Ok people, here we go. Scene 12, _Death of the Sorceress_. Ready......ACTION!!!"

"Oh, Sir Knight," Laguna's female co-star cooed. "Save me from the wicked dragon!"

"Oh...Ok...I...I'll s-save you from the dragon," Laguna stammered, impressed by his co-star's brilliant acting.

__

"...Darn it!" he scolded himself. _"I'm gettin' all nervous here. And what's with this gunblade? Haven't used one of these since training. Kinda like this, I guess…?"_

He swung the gunblade around, a little clumsily, but convincingly enough.

"Hey, not bad. Uh, I'll just put in some voice overs," the director explained. "Ok! Bring on the dragon!"

There was no appearance from Kiros and Ward for a few moments. The cast and crew looked around for the two men.

"Hey! Come on, guys! The dragon!" the director shouted impatiently.

Sure enough, a large red dragon stomped onto the set.

"Alright! Here we go!" the director said excitedly.

The dragon let out a ferocious roar.

"Wow!" the director gaped, impressed. "Just like the real thing! Excellent work, guys! Wait a minute...Was the costume THAT big?"

__

"Whoa!" Laguna thought, gazing up at what he thought was his friends in a dragon costume. _"Kiros n' Ward are takin' this seriously. Man, looks like the real thing..."_

The dragon let out another roar, and swiped a long-fingered claw at Laguna.

"Erghhh!!!" Laguna yelped, jumping backwards, then leant forward and whispered. _"G-Geez...! Take it easy, Kiros!"_

The dragon let out a puff of smoke through its nostrils, and as the clogs in Laguna's head slowly ticked, a wave of realisation suddenly washed over him.

"I-Is this thing _real_?" he yelped.

"WHAT!!! No wonder!" the director shouted. "W-What am I doin'...? I'm getting' outta here! W-Well, Sir Knight...It's all yours!"

The cowardly director and his crew ran off, leaving their equipment behind.

"S-S-Sir Knight," the co-star said, still in acting mode, "I must bid you farewell!"

The co-star too, ran off, leaving Laguna alone.

"H-HEY! Don't just leave me here!" he called after them, but it was no use. The dragon opened its jaw and took a playful snap at Laguna. "Tch! It's not gonna let me go. _Hmm, the gunblade_..."

Luckily, Laguna's weapon was real, and not just a badly constructed prop like his costume. He struck out at the dragon a little awkwardly, but did manage to do some damage, even though he was much more used to using a gun.

"Hyah!" Laguna brought the gunblade up again and sliced the crown of the dragon's head. It roared in pain, and batted at its head with its claws.

"Now's my chance!" Laguna said to himself, and raced down the path onto a clearing. "RUN!"

He ran off the mountain and further into a canyon, and was about to make his escape when the ruby dragon leapt down of the mountain and blocked his way.

"_Darn!_ Stupid dragon!" Laguna raised his weapon up again. "Where the heck are Kiros and Ward?!"

"Laguna, did you call me?" Kiros asked from above him, then jumped down and stumbled onto his knees. "Yahhh!"

"Wait long enough?" Kiros joked to Laguna, as Ward jumped down after Kiros and landed on his backside.

"Here!" Kiros threw Laguna his machine gun and he tore off the ridiculous costume.

"Alright!" Laguna span round and did his usual battle pose, "Time to kick some dragon butt!"

He unleashed his weapon on the dragon, firing a round of six bullets into it's chest. The dragon roared in pain, then took a swipe at Kiros with it's claws. Luckily Kiros, being as agile as he was, dived out of the way before he got hurt. If he hadn't, the wound could have been fatal.

"Man, this thing is strong!" Laguna concluded. "We're outta here!"

He fired up at the dragon's head, blinding it temporarily, and the three quickly ran under it's belly and didn't stop running until they reached an open area, similar to a desert.

"What…is _THAT_?" Laguna gaped, pointing up at a huge floating object, far in the distance. No, it wasn't huge – it was positively, extremely _enourmous_. It was like nothing the three had ever seen before, although there were some quite unusual things in their land.

The giant structure was most definitely man-made, they could tell that from the perfect straight lines and right angles. It was basically a cuboid, with some sort of decorative feature at the top of each face. And it was just floating in the air, silently, and very mysteriously.

It was dark. What Squall was seeing now was the inside of his eyelids.

"I can't disconnect," said a female voice in Squall's head.

__

"What **is** this … 'connect' thing?" Squall found himself thinking without even meaning to.

"Is it you, Squall?" Ellone's voice sounded in his mind softly.

__

"Yeah," Squall 'said' to her.

"_Connect_ is just what I call it," Ellone said, and he could tell that wherever she was, she was smiling. "It's when I use my special power."

"Oh, I know," she said brightly. "I must be asleep. That's why I can't control it. I'm sorry, Squall. Just let me use your spirit for a little while longer."

"Let me go back," Squall pleaded.

After a few seconds of silence, the darkness faded and Squall found himself seeing the orphanage.

"She ain't here, either," Laguna sighed.

"If I may ask, what happened to this Ellone?" Edea queried politely.

"She was kidnapped by Esthar soldiers," Laguna explained grimly, not looking at Edea and pulling his long hair into a loose ponytail. "I've been travelling, tryin' all I can to get inside Esthar, but..."

"They were looking for a successor to the Esthar sorceress, Adel?" Edea guessed.

"Yeah, yeah!" Laguna clicked his fingers. "Exactly it!"

"Is she your daughter?" Edea continued with her questions, trying to find out as much as she could.

"No," Laguna blushed a little. "But she's just so _cute_! Oh, I wish I could hear her voice!"

__

"I want to hear Rinoa's voice," Squall thought bitterly.

Laguna's ears perked up and he started looking over his shoulder.

"Is something the matter?" Edea asked, puzzled at his sudden movement.

"No, just thought I heard something," Laguna admitted, then laughed a little. "Must be the faeries."

__

"I don't care if it's in the past or what," Squall thought, with determination. _"I want to hear Rinoa. I want to see Rinoa. That way, there might be a chance to save her."_

"You can't change the past. I just found that out," Ellone informed him kindly. "When I was kidnapped, Uncle Laguna went on a journey to find me, but because he did, Uncle Laguna wasn't able to be by Raine's side when she died. Raine wanted to show Laguna her new born baby. Raine kept calling out for Laguna. So no matter what, I wanted Laguna to stay in the village…But it didn't work. I can no longer make it back to that moment...And also...I can only send you inside someone I've met before. I'm sorry, Squall. I'm about to disconnect. I'll try again to speak to you this way."

__

"Sis! Ellone!" Squall called out helplessly. _"I'm..."_

Squall woke up suddenly in a cold sweat, still hunched over Rinoa's lifeless body. He pushed himself up and mopped his brow, taking in deep gulps of air.

__

"What's happening to me?" he asked himself. _"Rinoa … I need you. I need to hear your voice."_

"I can see you if we go back in time! Maybe even change things!" he blurted out loud, then shouted up at the ceiling. "Ellone! _Ellone_! Can you hear me? Send me back to the moment Rinoa went into a coma!"

There was no answer, only a light fluttering from the curtain as it was blown by the salty sea breeze. Resting his head in his hands, Squall slumped into a small chair beside the Infirmary bed.

__

"Ellone, you won't answer me?" he thought miserably. _"I know she's on the White SeeD ship. White Seed...Edea's SeeD...**Edea's SeeD**?"_

His eyes widened as he came to a conclusion, and without helping himself, shouted aloud: "Maybe Edea would know the whereabouts of the ship! Then I can see Ellone. _Then maybe I can go back!_"


	38. The White SeeD Ship

Squall took Quistis and Zell with him back to the orphanage. Being there again was a little too painful for Selphie, and Irvine had stayed behind to comfort her. And Rinoa, of course … she couldn't go anywhere, even if she wanted to.

Squall shook his head, trying to brush off the thoughts about Rinoa.

"Where could the White SeeD ship be?" Quistis asked no one in particular.

__

"Did Squall really **talk** to Ellone?" Zell whispered, a bit skeptical, and Quistis just shrugged.

Squall blocked out their voices and only listened to the pebbles and sand crunching under his boots as he strode up the path, entered the desolate building, and went back out onto the beach, where Edea and Cid were still talking.

"Headmaster," Squall greeted him, a little out of breath. "Please can you tell us about the White SeeD ship?"

"The White SeeD ship," Cid began, getting up from the wall he was sat on with a little groan, "Well, we first came up with it to protect Ellone from Esthar."

The three looked on at Headmaster Cid in silence, eagerly waiting for him to continue. The events that had happened over the past month had obviously taken a great effect on the Headmaster. While once rather sprightly and excitable, he was now often lethargic, slow and always quiet in thought.

"Edea served as the captain of the ship, but before long, many children were brought onboard, and it became somewhat of an orphanage," Cid explained, while removing his glasses and rubbing them with his red woolen waistcoat, before putting them back on. "Edea taught the children well, and they too were referred to as SeeDs."

At this, the three Balamb students turned their attention to the former sorceress.

"Those children are," Edea paused, trying to find the right word, "They are very _cautious_. They would never remain in one place for long."

"...I see," Squall replied slowly, his worst fears being realised. Ellone and the white SeeDs could be absolutely anywhere, land or sea.

"Oh yes, however," Edea spoke up, just as Squall had turned to leave. "Those children seemed to have taken a liking to Centra's landscape."

"Centra?" Squall repeated, hanging off her every word, hungry for any information he could squeeze from this conversation.

"Therefore, they may have stationed their ship by an inlet somewhere on the

Centra continent," she explained, then stood up from the same wall Cid had been sitting on and walked over to Squall, handing him an envelope. "Please take with you this letter that I wrote. With this, they shall welcome you."

"Thank you," Squall accepted the letter, and gave a salute. "Headmaster, Matron … thank you for your help."

Clutching tightly with apprehension to the envelope, Squall once again lead his friends back up to Garden, and they followed in silence.

Squall probably should have taken his position as leader and returned to the bridge, but he wanted to go back to his dorm, and he did, after telling Quistis to give Nida the message to head towards the Centra continent.

For the first time in days, Squall had a long, peaceful sleep. For the first time since the battle, he didn't have flashbacks of the fight with Matron, Seifer laughing evilly, Rinoa collapsing … Instead, he dreamt of an empty, sandy beach, waves lapping on the shore, and lush green land off in the distance. The scene then changed into a field full of beautiful purple, pink and blue flowers, petals flying off and swirling around in the wind.

When he woke up, his window was still open, and his dorm had become quite cool. As he reached up to pull the window closed, he noticed it was dusk. After gazing longingly at the open sea, and the dim sunlight that was reflected in it, he heard a cough behind him.

"Ahem," a female voice said politely. He turned around, and saw that it was Quistis. He wondered how long she'd been there, watching him.

"We've found it, Squall," she told him. "We found the White SeeD ship."

"...We meet again," a White SeeD said, with a little distaste.

"My name is Squall," he introduced himself. "We're SeeDs from Balamb Garden. I'd like to speak to your leader."

"I'm in charge," the White SeeD said bluntly. "State your business. Depending on what you say, we may ask you to leave immediately."

Squall paused and looked at the SeeD, dressed head-to-toe in rather regal white robes. Edea was right, the White SeeDs _were_ cautious. Their ship looked fairly innocent, similar to a cargo ship, except with very decorative sails. And it was large; at the far end of the ship Squall could see more than one staircase leading upwards, into the main area of the ship, and then staircases leading down, into cabin rooms.

"I want to see Ellone," Squall requested, and the White SeeD reeled back in shock. Squall continued: "We pose no threat. Edea told us that you would be here."

"_Edea_?" the SeeD echoed with disbelief. "How?"

"Edea is no longer under Sorceress Ultimecia's control," Squall explained. "She is now our ally, so there's no reason for you to hide Ellone's whereabouts from us. We want to take Ellone back to protect her from Ultimecia."

"Thank you for coming, but…" the White SeeD frowned, "We have no reason to believe you. Please leave."

He turned on his heel and walked away, leaving Squall alone.

Squall sighed and placed one hand on his hip. He was tired … it was getting late, and the others had all gone to rest. He didn't blame them – the past week had been extremely tiring. But hadn't he, as the leader, experienced the worst of it? And yet here he was, explaining, investigating, doing what he could to find Ellone.

Squall was about to give up and leave, when he spotted a familiar face walking around outside a cabin.

"Watts?" Squall called out, jogging over to him.

"Wow! Long time no see, sir!" Watts greeted cheerily, polite as ever.

"Whoa! Look who's here!" Zone said, popping out from behind his friend. He was holding a few cards in his hand, they had obviously been playing a game. "Squall, how's it goin'?"

Squall nodded to him, with a slight smile. Surely Watts, who made a hobby of collecting information, had something to tell him about Ellone.

"Can't believe you're here!" Watts said, very excited. "Everybody doin' good, sir?"

Squall nodded.

"After you guys left, the Galbadian buttheads came after us, and we barely

escaped to this boat," Zone explained.

"I was sure we were goners, sir!" Watts put in. "Zone went nuts and was thinking about swimming across the sea to escape!"

"Hey, it was a plan," Zone retorted, defending himself. All you were doing was whining like a big baby. "'We're gonna die, we're gonna die!' And look who jumped in first! You, you numbnuts!"

__

"...I don't see how these wackos keep surviving," Squall thought, becoming annoyed at the useless chit-chat.

"So, how's Rinoa?" Zone asked brightly, and Squall felt a lump rise into his throat. "Where is she?"

"...Rinoa fought with us against Edea," Squall croaked. Sometimes he really hated being the leader, having to explain everything to everyone. "For some reason, she went unconscious after the fight. She's resting in the Garden now. I don't know what happened. We couldn't protect her. I...I'm really sorry."

"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Zone exploded, and leapt towards Squall, yanking at the fur collar of his jacket and almost tearing it off. "What did I say?! What did I say, HUH?! WELL?!"

"Zone! C'mon!" Watts shouted, pulling him off Squall and holding him back with difficulty. "Easy, sir! Easy."

"I told you to take care of her!" Zone spat, dropping clumps of fur out of his hands, then wiped his mouth and pointed an accusing finger at Squall. "That nothin' better happen to her! SCUMBAG! _You pathetic, lyin' scumbag_!"

"She's not dead," Watts explained calmly to his friend. "They just dunno what's wrong with her, that's all. Ain't that right, sir? Squall would never give up on her. Am I right, sir?"

"We came here to get Ellone because there's a new evil force after her," Squall told them. He felt awful. "If we can get Ellone and Rinoa together, maybe...we can get Rinoa back."

"See, Zone?" Watts said gently to Zone, as if calming a small child. "I told you, sir. Rinoa's gonna be fine! She promised she would come back, didn't she? We all have to free Timber together. So don't worry, sir!"

Zone's nostrils were flaring, but he squirmed out of Watts' grip and seemed to have calmed down a little.

"All right," he breathed, still glaring at Squall. "But I'm gonna say it one more time. If something happens to Rinoa again, I _swear_..."

He pointed at Squall, then left on a staircase leading upwards, into the main cabin.

"Sorry about him, sir," Watts sighed through his nose. "Shall I fill you in on the information I've collected?"

"Thanks, Watts," Squall nodded. "Can you tell me about this ship?"

"Well, after this lady named Edea left, there haven't been any adults on this ship, sir. So far, I've only seen kids and guys our age," he explained. "Everyone here's an orphan, sir. Me and Zone are orphans, too, so we all kinda understand each other. Sometimes, the little ones look lonely, and that's always tough to watch."

"Is Ellone here?" Squall wanted to know.

"Oh, you mean that pretty girl, sir?" Watts smiled fondly. "She left when some other ships came."

Squall's heart sank into the bottom of his stomach.

"What other ships? Who were they?" he asked.

"There were some soldiers on the ships. I know I've seen them before," he paused and thought silently for a moment. "Esthar! They were Esthar soldiers, sir!"

"Esthar?!" Squall repeated. From his point of view, things couldn't get much worse from this revelation. "Why Esthar? What do they want with Ellone?"

"I don't know, sir," Watts shrugged. "But I think she was smiling as she left."

__

"What the heck's going on?" Squall thought in despair, sighing heavily and running both his hands through his hair.

"Everybody liked her a lot, sir," Watts told him, trying to help. "She was the one who found us in the water. We would've drowned if it weren't for her. She made us feel welcome, too. She talked to us a lot when we first came aboard. We owe her our lives, sir. I'm sure everybody's really worried about her."

Squall nodded.

"Where's the White SeeD leader?" he asked, remembering he had the letter. Surely the leader could tell him more about Ellone's whereabouts.

"The leader's usually in the cabin below deck, sir," Watts informed him, pointing to a downward staircase. "He really gets serious when it comes to Ellone. He can be harsh at time, but he's actually a good guy, sir. He helps a lot of people who are in trouble."

"Thanks, Watts," Squall said, and he really meant it. Watts left to go and see Zone, and Squall immediately headed for the cabin below deck.

"Here," he said bluntly, handing the envelope over to the leader. The leader looked up, slightly surprised, then broke the wax seal and read the letter inside.

"This is Matron's writing," he said, looking up. "She really gave this to you?"

"You guys call her Matron too, huh?" Squall smiled a little.

"Yes," the leader smiled back. "Ever since we were little."

"We were raised by Edea, too," Squall told him. "It was difficult to fight against her, but we did. Fortunately, everything turned out well. Edea is no longer evil. She's back to her old self again...the kind Matron we remember."

"Squall, thank you," the leader said, giving him a salute. "We owe you and Balamb Garden much."

"Even our salute is the same," Squall noticed, saluting back.

"Matron told us it hasn't changed since SeeD was established," the leader said with interest, then realised he was going off the subject a little. "So it says in the letter, you're looking for Ellone. I'm sorry. Ellone's no longer here. Remember we picked her up from your Garden near the coast of Fisherman's Horizon?"

Squall nodded.

"After that we headed east to get away as far as we could from Edea and Galbadia. Before long, we encountered the Galbadian fleet. They had a lot of ships. Obviously, they were searching for us. We should've been more careful. They pursued us in full force," the leader paused for breath. "Luckily, we were able to escape but, then our ship broke down and we were stranded. There was no way we were going to let the Galbadians take Ellone. Eventually, the Galbadians caught up to us and we had no choice but to prepare for battle."

Squall continued to listen eagerly.

"Then an Esthar ship appeared. A battle began between them, and we were caught in the middle of it. Then something strange happened," the leader spoke wonderingly. "Suddenly, an Esthar ship came up beside us and Esthar soldiers came aboard. They told us to get aboard their ship. It sounded like an order to evacuate. Of course, we refused. We didn't trust them just as we didn't trust the Galbadians."

Squall nodded. Sure, he could understand their reasoning.

"As the Esthar soldiers were trying to convince us, the battle became more intense. Soon they were forced to leave our ship. As their ship was pulling away, Ellone yelled out something. Then, all of a sudden, she jumped onto their ship. It wasn't like her at all," the leader remembered, looking confused. "To this day, I don't understand why she did that. After that, Esthar's fleet withdrew from battle and fled. After they left, we - well, it's a long story."

He decided to stop there, as Squall, deep in thought, could only handle so much information at any one time.

"After our ship is fully repaired, we plan to go to Esthar," the summarised, and apologised again. "I'm sorry, Squall. We couldn't protect her."

"So Ellone's in Esthar?" Squall checked for a final time.

"We believe so," the leader nodded.

"Thanks for your help," Squall said, then turned and walked back up onto the deck of the ship. While walking back to Balamb Garden, he stared down at the long wooden decking, and knew there was only one option for the group.

"Our next destination," he said to himself. "We're going to Esthar."

"Have you decided on a destination?" Nida asked, as Squall arrived in the lift.

"Esthar," Squall answered, smoothing down his jacket. There were two great big holes missing out of the fluffy collar where Zone had grabbed him.

"Oh man," Nida sighed. "_Xenophobic_ Esthar. That area's terrain is not really suited for flying the Garden."

"So?" Squall asked rudely, looking up from his damaged coat. "Just set a course for Esthar."

"The Esthar continent is surrounded by a huge mountain range," Quistis put in bluntly, annoyed that Squall was taking his feelings out on poor Nida. Squall looked up. He hadn't even noticed she was there.

"It's literally hidden away by the mountains," Quistis continued, casually leaning her weight onto a safety bar near the control panel. "There isn't much contact with the outside world. That's why they're called the _Silent Country_."

"Garden can't fly over those mountains," Nida told Squall again, hoping he would take more noticed this time. "But there's one railroad line leading from Fisherman's Horizon to Esthar. Just one."

Quistis folded her arms across her chest and stepped over towards Squall as Nida continued speaking.

"Fisherman's Horizon used to have relations with Esthar," he was saying. "The railroad is all that remains."

"We'll wait until tomorrow though, okay Squall?" Quistis suggested. "We all need some rest, especially you."

Squall nodded as Quistis walked past him into the lift, but he had plans of his own.


	39. Great Salt Lake

Squall walked into the Infirmary just as Dr. Kadowaki was walking out with a box of medical supplies.

"Squall, be a dear, and take care of things till I get back, ok?" she asked kindly. Squall nodded, then made his way over to Rinoa's bed. She was still lying there, hands resting on her stomach and completely comatosed.

Squall very carefully sat her up, then pulled her onto his back and stood up. He secured her legs through his arms, and made sure her head was resting on his shoulder.

__

"Let's go, Rinoa. Let's go meet Ellone," he thought, walking out of the Infirmary. _"Ellone will bring us together."_

__

"...Sorry everyone," he continued thinking as he made his way to Garden's emergency exit, through Fisherman's Horizon, and onto the railroad. It was going to be a long walk. _"I can't go on like this. I can't wait any longer."_

"It's a bit far, but we'll make it," he said aloud, taking his first few steps onto the railroad.

Squall tried to switch his brain off, and tune out his thoughts, instead concentrating on his surroundings.

There wasn't much to look at though, although it was quite a rare sight. The railroad was long and narrow, and he could barely see the land at the other end. The railroad was suspended in the air, above the sea. There was nothing all around but land behind, land in front, and endless ocean.

When Squall had started walking, it was sunset. Now it was beginning to become quite dark. Luckily the moon was bright tonight, and its rays basked down on Squall and his silent companion.

__

"It's pretty far," Squall thought, noticing the pain in his legs. _"Didn't think it would be this far..."_

He suddenly stopped walking, for the first time since he began the journey. His feet were throbbing.

__

"What am I doing...?" he asked himself hopelessly. _"Go to Esthar...Find Ellone...Talk to Ellone...But there's no guarantee that everything will be resolved if I talk to Ellone. Even so, I'm..."_

His thoughts trailed off, and he bathed in the silence that surrounded him. He adjusted his arms and shifted Rinoa up further onto his back, so she didn't fall.

__

"I … sure have changed," Squall realised, sitting Rinoa down and looking out to the sea. He took a seat on the edge of the railroad and dangled his legs over the edge, pointing down into the sea.

__

"I wonder what everyone's doing?" he wondered. _"Me suddenly disappearing like that, with no explanation … They're probably laughing at me. Or maybe they're angry."_

"What do you think?" he peered over his shoulder and asked Rinoa. Of course, she didn't say anything.

"To tell you the truth," Squall continued, his own voice comforting him, "I worry too much about what other people think of me. I hate that side of me...That's why I didn't want anyone to get to know me."

He paused, and looked out again at the sea.

"I wanted to hide that side of myself. I hate it," he said quietly. "Squall is an unfriendly, introverted guy. It made it easy for me when people perceived me that way. But that's just a secret between you and me. Got that?"

He peered over his shoulder again, but Rinoa still slept. He knelt down next to her, scooped her up and placed her back on his shoulders.

"Rinoa," he sighed, as he continued walking. "I wonder what will become of me?"

Rinoa said nothing; she was sleeping like an angel.

When Squall eventually arrived at the train station, it was early morning. He'd been walking all night, but it didn't feel like it. He looked up suddenly, and was very surprised Quistis and Zell stood in front of him.

"Squall, you're late," Quistis said, but she wasn't angry at all, she was smiling fondly at him as she leant her weight against a pillar.

"Is the princess still asleep?" Zell grinned, looking at Rinoa.

"She might wake up with a kiss from the prince," Quistis suggested jokingly.

"Is that why you came all the way out here?" Squall blurted, quite rudely. "To tell me that?"

"You're going to Esthar, right?" Quistis guessed, crossing her arms and looking at him deeply. "We're coming, too. You can't do everything alone, Squall."

"We're Edea's escort," Zell explained, punching his own chest proudly. Ever since the fight with Edea, he had become very protective of his old Matron.

"Let us be on our way, Squall," Edea bowed, and he only just realised she was there. Before she had been a powerful sorceress, having great presence in any room, and now she was a quiet, retiring woman, who blended in among any background.

"What business do you have in Esthar?" Squall asked wonderingly, shifting Rinoa up further onto his back again, so she didn't fall.

"I must go see Doctor Odine," Edea said simply.

"Dr. Odine," Zell repeated, looking at Squall. "You've heard the name, right?"

__

"...Odine?" Squall thought, but his mind was a scrambled mess at the moment.

"Tell me more," he said, not openly admitting that he had totally forgotten. He didn't want his group to think he was going crazy.

"You know the famous Odine brand, don't you? That's all Dr. Odine's work," Zell told him. "When it comes to knowledge about the sorceress, he's number one."

"So why do you need to see this doctor?" Squall asked Edea.

"Sorceress Ultimecia is alive. She is able to take control of my body at any

time. If that were to happen..." Edea paused, looking down at her feet. "I would once again bring terror. I, too, value my well-being. I want to protect myself. If it were possible, I would like to rid myself of the sorceress' power. Doctor Odine may know a way. He may be able to save me."

"...I understand," Squall nodded after hearing her explanation. "Let's all go to Esthar."

He took a step forwards when Selphie and Irvine came along from a dusty path opposite the train station.

"Yo, they're back," Zell said, stretching out a hand and stopping Squall.

"The two of them went to take a look," Quistis explained helpfully. She was trying to keep herself as cool and collected as possible – but she had to admit, even though she knew her feelings for Squall were similar to those of a big sister – it still pained her slightly to see him taking so much care of Rinoa. In the past, Squall always pushed Quistis away with a blunt, rude comment. She wondered if he would look after her the same if she was in Rinoa's position.

"How's it goin', Squall? Is Rinoa still asleep?" Selphie asked with a wave, quite brightly. Then she leant forwards to Squall's ear and whispered: _"Rinoa's so cute when she's asleep."_

"Whatever," Squall brushed her off coldly. "So, how is it? Can we make it to Esthar?"

"Wooo!" Selphie grinned and started jumping up and down. "Are you _blushing_?!"

"Selphie, don't make Squall angry," Irvine chuckled, adjusting his hat, then turning to the others. "Esthar's on this continent, right? It's supposed to be huge...I don't know why, but I can't seem to find it anywhere."

"Couldn't find it up north or down south," Selphie filled them in. "So let's try going east next!"

Squall nodded, and lead the group east, although he had no idea where he was going. But Irvine was right, Esthar was known to be a huge city … surely they would stumble upon it sooner or later.

After the railroad tracks gradually ended, the team wandered down a sandy dirt track, until they reached a giant frozen lake, surrounded by rocky ledges, caves, and hilly areas.

"Hel-_lo_!" Selphie shouted sarcastically, and her voice echoed in every nook and cranny of the frozen structure. "I don't see a city!"

"Looks like we are in for a long trip," Edea sighed.

"Everything'll be all right," Zell said optimistically to his former Matron. "We'll all be by your side all the way!"

"Thank you Zell," she smiled fondly, patting his arm. "But remember, you must stay alert even in my presence. As long as I can be myself, everything will be fine. But if Ultimecia gets inside me again...You all know what to do..."

She trailed off, and there was an awkward silence.

"What, what, did I miss something?" Selphie asked quickly. "Uh-oh, it's so quiet. The air's getting heavy. Guys...What's wrong?"

No one said anything to her.

"COME ON!" she pleaded. "We're all together again! We're gonna bring back Rinoa! It's like a picnic! We're gonna have _fun_!"

"Somebody once told me," Squall began, "That if you mention bad things, they'll come true. I know it's a silly superstition, but right now I want to believe it. So let's not talk about it anymore."

A few seconds before Squall finished his last sentence, a giant skeletal monster strode out from a nearby cave. It bent its rickety knees and scratched at something on the ground, before peering up at the group and then suddenly bounding over to them.

"It's an undead monster!" Squall shouted to the group as he ducked backwards under a small ledge, to protect Rinoa. "Use recovery-related magic and items on it!"

Wasting no time, Zell pulled out a Potion from his jacket pocket and threw it at the beast, as Edea cast Curaga on it. The healthy ingredients in the potion and the magic caused the monster's bones to burn horribly, like acid. Quistis finished it off by throwing a Phoenix Down.

Squall breathed a sigh of relief after the hurried battle, then stepped out from the safety of the ledge and noticed that the pathway ahead and it surroundings were … _flickering_.

"There's something here," he called out to the others, stepping closer towards it. A hole appeared in the air in front of them, as if by magic.

"WHOA!" Zell reeled back in surprise. "What the hell is that?! It's some kinda hole or tunnel."

"This looks like the only way," Squall informed the group, reaching out near the hole. He patted the air and eventually his hand grabbed onto an invisible ladder. "There's a ladder here. Follow me, everyone."

He steadied himself on the ladder that he couldn't actually see and pushed Rinoa through the hole, before clambering in himself, as his group followed.

The team were stood on an elevator, which began to move downwards. It was an accurately square room, with diamond-shaped panels on each of the four walls.

"What's this, an elevator?" Zell peered around at the dark room.

"Oh geez," Irvine muttered to himself, looking around in disbelief. "Whatever."

__

"I don't know what I'm doing, where I am…" Squall thought, eyeing up the dark walls of the small elevator. _"I don't know if we'll ever get to Esthar. But I don't care."_

"I'm not turning back now," he said aloud to the others, as the elevator came to a sudden halt.

"It stopped," Zell said, but no one bothered telling him that he was clearly stating the obvious. It was nice to keep the conversation going; it kept everyone calm. "So, is that it?"

"Well Squall, what are we gonna do?" Selphie asked with a shrug.

__

"I don't care at this point. Nothing's gonna surprise me," Squall thought, as he placed Rinoa on his back once more and turned to the others.

"What else? Let's go," he instructed.

He approached one of the panels, which suddenly disappeared, and set off a chain reaction, making all the panels become transparent. Before Squall and his friends was the futuristic city of Esthar.

Bustling with people and transport of all kinds, Esthar was literally buzzing. It was the most amazing place Squall had ever seen – roads and paths intertwining with each other in complicated turnings and hoops, people in expensive robes walking around as floating cars zoomed past them, buildings of all sizes … tall and narrow, short and fat, but all equally spectacular, with all kinds of colored lights and intricate detailing and shapes.

"THE HELL IS THIS?!" Zell yelped.

"Incredible," Quistis breathed in awe. "I've read about Esthar, but I never imagined it would be so … breath-taking!"

The transparent panels moved away from Squall's party and railings appeared beneath them. The only panel left was the one they were standing on, and it moved down the rails quickly but steadily, following a ropeway through the wondrous city.

"Judging from their technology, they must know we're here," Squall said calmly, although everyone else was still stunned with amazement. "It's possible we might encounter some hostility, so stay alert."

He couldn't say anymore after that, as Squall dropped onto the ground, and Ellone connected him to memories of the past once again.


	40. The Final Dream

At a deserted location in Esthar, a prison security guard slammed his gloved hand down on a silver safety bar.

"The skinny one and the fat one!" he barked to Kiros and Ward. "Get your asses down to Lunatic Pandora! The rest of you … get back to work!"

Laguna and his friends were being forced to do manual labor in a small room, of which the ceiling reached upwards forever and down below the thin platforms they were stood on, there was nothing but darkness.

Kiros and Ward left quietly, and Laguna tried to catch the eye of another prisoner who was in the room.

"Don't roam around!" the guard shouted sternly. "And no talking!"

Laguna's stomach gave a great rumble and he clutched at it, in pain.

"I'm hungry," he groaned, and the guard shook a baton at him.

"You! I said no talking!" he spat. "It's only been 3 days, you wimp! When I was young, I worked all day and all night...without sleep!"

"I wonder if Kiros and Ward are workin', too?" Laguna mumbled to himself.

"No talking!" the guard said once more. "How many times do I have to-"

The stressed-out guard was interrupted by a bell chiming.

"Oh...Meal time!" Laguna clasped his hands together joyfully. "Alright, it's time to eat!"

He tried to walk off to the lift that would take him to the dining area, but the guard prodded him with the baton.

"You keep working! That's what you get for your big mouth!" he yelled. "That beast over there, you, too! No meal until your work is done!"

He was swinging the baton threateningly towards the Moomba.

"Hey...You can't be serious!" Laguna protested indignantly. "I'll be done in 2 to 3 hours, but...His job won't get done for days!"

"Then he just won't get fed for a few days," the guard retorted. "If he wants to eat, he should work faster!"

Laguna looked over to his fellow prisoner for help, but the selfish man had already made his way over to the lift, of which another security guard had come out of.

"Come give me a hand," guard 2 asked guard 1. "I can't handle the big guy alone."

"Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone," the original guard warned Laguna and the man, then waved his baton at something above their heads. "The camera is watching you."

The guards left, and Laguna bent down kindly to the Moomba.

"You all right?" he asked softly. "You look exhausted. Do they feed you all right? Got a fever or something? Or you just scared of heights?"

"Grrr...Grrr..." the Moomba replied.

"Your stomach's goin' grrr?" Laguna chuckled.

"Ha ha ha...That's funny," the man laughed too. "I think that thing's 'Grrr...Grrr...' means 'thank you'."

He knelt down beside Laguna and the small, fluffy fiery-red creature.

"Know what? You're the first one to care about his well-being," the man said. "Those Moombas get worked to death for no reason. They only get half the food and sleep compared to us humans."

Suddenly, a foreign voice came echoing down the chamber from an upstairs level, after a huge rumble had rocked through the entire building.

"Bahh!" the voice cried. "This iz a failure!"

"Sounds like Dr. Odine's up to something again upstairs," the man said quietly, peering up to the ceiling.

The Moomba started yapping at Laguna and tugged on his trouser leg.

"Huh? What's up?" Laguna looked down. "You need a tool? I'll go get it. Wait right there."

He rose to his feet and walked over to another part of the complex.

"I think there was one here," he mumbled, and caught sight of a tool resting on the edge of a barrier, that was there to stop people falling off.

"Hey, you over there!" one of the guards shouted to Laguna. "Yeah, standing next to the elevator. Go get the guard upstairs! Tell them there's an emergency."

"Roger that," Laguna said politely.

__

"An emergency?" he thought gleefully to himself, and couldn't resist letting out a little giggle. _"Maybe those guys are...up to something?"_

"Go now!" the guard barked impatiently.

"Alright, I'm goin'," Laguna shrugged defensively, then noticed the tool in his hand. "Oh...I almost forgot. Here, catch!"

As he threw the tool over to the Moomba, it reached up to catch it, but lost his footing on the barrier and fell into the bottomless pit below.

"WHOA!" Laguna leapt forward with his hands outstretched, but only grabbed at thin air. He clasped onto the barrier and peered down into the darkness. "No! The poor little guy…"

Suddenly the orange creature leapt back up onto the bar, and Laguna noticed a safety harness around it's tiny body.

"Geez!" he breathed a sigh of relief as he helped the Moomba down. "That was close. I'm so glad … I'm so...so glad!!"

"You're such a nice guy," the other man said as Laguna cuddled the Moomba. "Not many guys like you these days. You seem like you'd be a good candidate to be our leader."

"A leader?" Laguna raised his eyebrows after setting the Moomba down safely on the floor.

"That's right. A lot of us are dissatisfied with the way Adel's been ruling Esthar. We may be disorganized now...But someday we'll gather our forces to remove Adel from power," the man explained. "We're overthrowing the ruler of a country. A sorceress, far beyond our powers. A half-baked plan would never work. We're waiting for the right time, now..."

Laguna listened eagerly and nodded at appropriate points.

"Most of us involved in the Adel resistance are specialists. It's easy to research ways to fight Adel, but…" the man paused, looking hopeful. "There's no one to lead the movement. That's our situation right now. We've been looking for someone like you...Someone who's strong an righteous."

A wide smile spread across Laguna's face, but before he could reply, the guard interrupted.

"Hey, did you go tell them?" he asked Laguna with annoyance. "What are you doing? Up to no good again, aren't ya?!"

"Stop!" Laguna warned as the guard approached, but didn't stop, and Laguna had no choice but to pull out his machine gun. Firing it only once, he hit the guard in the arm and made him stumble back. Laguna wanted to do some damage and protect himself, but he didn't want to go around murdering people.

But the trouble wasn't over yet, as another Esthar soldier descended in the lift and stomped into the room.

"Don't move!" he warned, holding up a sword at Laguna while striding towards him.

"Oops, I did it again," Laguna joked, throwing the soldier off-guard a little. "Well, too bad!"

Laguna captured the Esthar soldier in his grip, wrapping his arms around the soldier from behind so he couldn't escape.

"Just get on and go!" Laguna grunted with difficulty to the man and the Moomba, as he struggled with the squirming guard. Just then, Kiros and Ward entered.

"Kiros! Ward!" Laguna cried delightfully. "Great timing!"

As he said it, another security guard entered.

"Or should I say...bad timing?" Kiros smiled sickly. Kiros was always able to joke, even in the most desperate and dangerous of situations.

"Stop talking and just keep walking!" the guard behind them said, jabbing Kiros and Ward in the back with his baton roughly. Ward looked over his shoulder and gave the soldier a very dirty look.

"It's not so bad," Laguna said to his friends. "2 is better than 1. 4 is better than 2, right?"

Kiros and Ward stared at him blankly.

"So, who's the 4th one?" Kiros asked with an eyebrow raised. "Geez! Are you ... starting to hallucinate?"

"Yeah...I can see it!" Laguna cried, appearing to be looking at something invisible on the floor. "Oh...My sweet Elle...You make your uncle so happy."

As Kiros and Ward exchanged nervous glances, Laguna was close enough to them to whisper them a private message.

__

"Hey, now's our chance!" he whispered. _"You know what to do? Let's just finish'em off and get out of here! Before we do that … are we all geared up?"_

Kiros and Ward nodded.

"Alright," Laguna loosened his grip on his captured soldier and pushed him away, whipping out his gun once more. "JAIL BREAK!"

He fired a single shot at the soldier he had just pushed, hitting him once in the back, and he collapsed to the floor. Meanwhile, Kiros and Ward defeated the security guard effortlessly, with a 'thunk' and a 'slice.'

"Let's go!" Laguna waved over to his friends and they entered the high-tech lift, taking them up to the top floor. There was no security guard around, and Laguna took the chance to sneak up on Dr. Odine and listen in on his conversation between him and an assistant. Signaling for Kiros and Ward to remain silent, Laguna took his place behind the Doctor.

"To use Lunatic Pandora as a weapon," Dr. Odine's assistant was saying, "You would need a system to move it. And you are researching that now?"

"Indeed," Dr. Odine replied proudly. He was sat at desk, busying himself with some computer controls, and appeared to not want to talk much.

"How do you come up with such bold ideas?" the assistant asked, in awe. "I could never come up with such brilliant ideas."

"…I forgot!" the Doctor joked, and the two men laughed.

"Boring," Laguna thought, and lead the others outside the lab. The natural light felt amazing on his body, he was totally refreshed. After stretching out his arms and yawning loudly, he noticed the Moomba that escaped from the complex earlier, sitting by his feet.

"Hey! You waited for me?" Laguna knelt down to the Moomba's level.

"Grrr, Grrr..." the Moomba purred happily.

"Stay on your toes! Don't get captured again!" Laguna warned, and the Moomba bounced off. Behind Laguna, Dr. Odine's assistant walked out of the lab.

"Excuse me," he began politely, but Laguna leapt out of the way and reached for his gun.

"Stop!" the man from the prison stopped Laguna. "It's okay, he's an 'Adel Resistance' member too. He's Dr. Odine's assistant. All the hot info about the lab comes from him."

"You're a new member?" the lab assistant shook Laguna's hand. Welcome to our group. You made quite a bit of noise down there … I'd advise you leave this facility as soon as you can."

"Did something happen to the doctor?" Laguna queried. "Or did Adel stop funding this lab?"

"No, it's Dr. Odine. He...He's done it again," the assistant explained glumly. "He's found a new toy he prefers over a big one like Lunatic Pandora...Some child named Ellone."

"Ellone?!" Laguna and Kiros repeated simultaneously, and Ward's usually sleepy eyes shot open in surprise.

"You know her?" the assistant asked.

"Know her?" Kiros gaped. "She's really the only reason why we're here!"

"Where is she?" Laguna asked desperately. "Where's Ellone?!"

"Dr. Odine would probably know her whereabouts," the assistant explained calmly.

"We're going back in!" Laguna decided without any hesitation. "Thanks for all your help. Better go some place safe. Adios!"

"Wait a second! I still owe you!" the assistant reached out an arm to stop Laguna running off. "If you're looking for that girl, Ellone, you'll eventually need help. Facing Esthar and Adel with only the 3 of you will be difficult. Why not let us help you? We'll provide you with all the information you'll need."

"It's not a bad idea, Laguna," Kiros said to his headstrong friend. "We don't know anything about Esthar. I never want to go through all this again. I'm sure Ward feels the same way."

Ward obviously couldn't say anything, but Laguna guessed his feelings from the look in his eyes.

"Huh? What? Hmm ... Okay, fine!" Laguna agreed after some contemplation. "We'll accept your help. In return, we'll help you Anti-Azel movement or whatever."

Ward slapped his forehead.

"Geez, Laguna," Kiros sighed, exasperated. "It's _ADEL_. Start listening more closely, 'cause it's getting embarrassing - is what Ward would say. Can't you see it in his eyes?"

"Yeah, sure, I always see it!" Laguna said brightly, not embarrassed at all. Then he argued, "But...who cares?! I speak with passion, from the heart! That's what matters most."

"Yes, that's right!" the other prisoner agreed. "It all sounds crazy, but - I like you! I really want you to be our leader..."

"Leave it to me! Once we find Ellone, I'll take up that offer!" Laguna promised.

"This girl, Ellone," the assistant began curiously. "Is she your special someone?"

"Huh? Yeah, something like that," Laguna said quickly, brushing off the question quite casually.

"Laguna, puh-_lease_," Kiros scoffed, then showed a warm smile. "She's like a daughter to you."

"She may be small, but Elle's still a lady," Laguna retorted. "Imagine how angry she'd be if she heard me talking about her like a baby. So I say 'special someone' out of respect...and fear."

"I see," Kiros chuckled. "Maybe you have a point. It's not wise to upset her."

"Right," Laguna said firmly. "Do you remember the 'J Disaster'?"

"Yes," Kiros smiled fondly, in remembrance. "She got upset and put fruit jam in your shoes. You were almost in tears!"

"Ugh!" Laguna shuddered and rubbed his arms furiously. "Just thinking about it gives me goose bumps!"

"Sounds like a brat-" the prisoner began, then quickly corrected himself. "I mean, a spunky girl."

Laguna hadn't heard; he, Ward and Kiros had already raced back into the lab to confront Dr. Odine.

"Dr. Odine!" Laguna roughly picked him up from the back of his coat, and dangled his legs in the air. Dr. Odine was incredibly short, and it took Laguna no effort to lift him up from the floor.

"Vat are you saying? I do not know any...Ellone," the Doctor bluffed, but he was a terrible liar.

"Tell me!" Laguna demanded threateningly, shaking him.

"Wah! Okay, okay, I vas lying!" the Doctor admitted. "Ellone...I know Ellone!"

"Where is she?" Laguna demanded again, with another shake.

"Alright, alright! Stop shaking me! In O Lab! Ellone iz there."

"O Lab?" Laguna repeated, dropping Dr. Odine to the floor, and he scurried off. Laguna, Kiros and Ward made their way back outside. The assistant had overheard the ruckus.

"O Lab," the assistant confirmed. "He means Odine's Laboratory. "To get there, go over here...then over there...and then here."

The assistant gestured with his hands at the air in front of him, as Laguna nodded slowly.

"I see," Laguna lied, still nodding. "Um, I didn't understand a word. Kiros! It's your show from here!"

Laguna, Kiros, Ward and the other prisoner boarded a car which had pulled up.

"We'll be joining you as soon as we can. Until then, good luck!" the assistant waved. "Please be careful."

The car pulled up outside Odine's lab.

"This is the place, right?" Laguna asked for conformation, as he climbed out of the car and looked at the building before him. "This place sure is weird."

They walked inside, and luckily there were no guards about. At the far end of the corridor was a door, but when Laguna tried to open it, it was locked. The only other thing was a circular chair device in the center of the corridor, directly underneath a large hole in a huge glass pipe. Laguna gave the chair a poke, and it rose slightly off the ground, hovering silently in the air.

"W-What the...!" Laguna jumped back in surprise, but calmed down a little when he realised that he was in no danger. "So many unusual gadgets here."

"Looks like some sort of lift," Kiros observed intelligently, after taking a quick examination of the coral-colored chair and the hole above it. "It should be safe to sit on it."

The three men sat on the chair, and it zoomed upwards rather sharply, causing Laguna and Kiros, the lighter two of the three, to cling onto their seats so they didn't fall. It then traveled into another corridor, a darker one, before they were in a laboratory room with wall-to-wall controls and computer screens. At the far end of the room was a dome window, caving outwards. As Kiros and Ward examined the screens on the walls, Laguna went over to the window. It struck him as rather odd to have a big window like this indoors.

Through the window was an empty room, with only one thing in it – a person … a little girl. It was Ellone.

"Ellone?" Laguna gasped, and Kiros and Ward ran over to his side. Laguna started banging on the window. "Ellone! ELLONE!"

But Ellone sat where she was, crying. She couldn't hear Laguna through the thick sound-proof window.

"She can't hear me!" Laguna was almost in tears. Ward tapped him on the shoulder, and signaled for him to move back. Laguna did so, and Ward raised up his huge, heavy weapon – a giant anchor – over his head, before hurdling it at the window. It smashed into pieces, but Ward had hit it at an angle so that none of the glass fell near Ellone.

Wasting no more time, Laguna climbed up onto the ledge of the window and leapt down, kneeling next to Ellone.

"Ellone!" he smothered her in his arms, after she had looked up in surprise at the smashing noise.

"Uncle Laguna!" she shouted gleefully, but her voice was muffled through his shirt.

"See, I told ya I'd come save you," Laguna laughed a little, wiping a tear from his cheek. "Sorry I'm a little late, but..."

LL: Ugh, yes I know! This chapter is my worst yet! For some reason I found this particular Laguna flashback almost impossible hard to right. Probably cuz I didn't have much clue of what was going on when I actually played it in the game (why are they in jail???)… maybe just because I don't really like this scene and it was difficult to describe exactly where they were. Anyway, it's the space events after this, including a major Squinoa scene, and I can't WAIT to do those! So RR, and keep reading. =)


End file.
